LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

Class 


' 


u" '  '^93^'. 

^^^^^^^^™  , ,  -  -     •; 

Chesapeake  Beach-on  the  Bay 

30  MILES  FROM  WASHINGTON 
A  NEW  AND  POPULAR  SALT  WATER  RESORT 

REACHED  ONLY  BY  THE 

CHESAPEAKE  BEACH  RAILWAY 

DAILY  EXCURSION  TRAINS 

50  Cents  for  Round  Trip 


TAKE   COLUMBIA  H  ST.  CAR 
TO   CHESAPEAKE   JUNCTION 


OTTO  MEARS  J.  L.  McNEIL  A.  H.  LEWIS 

Pres.  and  Gen'l  Mgr.  Vice-Pres.  and  Treas.  Gen'l  Frt.  &  Passg.  Agent 

I 


.Southern  Railway 


NATIONAL  HIGHWAY  OF 
TRAVEL  BETWEEN  THE 
NORTH  AND  SOUTH 


4 


Great  Trains  every  day  in  the  year  from  New  York,  through 
Philadelphia,  Baltimore  and  Washington,  with  unexcelled 
Dining,  Sleeping  and  Observation  Car  Service  •%/%  To  At- 
lanta, Montgomery,  New  Orleans,  Asheville,  Knoxville, 
Chattanooga,  Birmingham,  Memphis,  Augusta,  Savannah, 
Jacksonville  and  Tampa  ::  ::  ::  ::  ::  :: 


and  all  Principal  Southern  Cities  and  Winter  Resorts 


THE  SOUTH,  SOUTHWEST, 
FLORIDA,  CUBA,  MEXICO, 
AND  THE  PACIFIC  COAST 


THE    ROUTE    TO    WESTERN    NORTH 
CAROLINA  THE  LAND   OF   THE  SKY 


Ticket  Offices  in  Washington,  D.C. 

705  isth  St.,  N.W.  and  511  Pennsylvania  Ave. 

For  full  particulars,  tickets,  and  reservation  of  Pullman  space,  address  the  agents  named  below. 
NEW  YORK— 1185  Broadway,  Cor.  28th  St.,  Eastern  Passenger  Agency,  Alex.  S.  Thweatt,  E  P.  A. 
NEW  YORK  -  271  Broadway,  N»t.  Shoe  &  Leather  Bank  Building,  W.  A.  Johnson,  Passenger  Agent. 
BOSTON— At  228  Washington  Street,  G.  C.  Daniels,  New  England  Passenger  Agent. 
PHILADELPHIA-  828  Chestnut  Street,  under  Continental  Hotel,  C.  L.  Hopkins,  D.  P.  A. 
BALTinORE  -At  201  E.  Baltimore  St ,  Cor.  Baltimore  and  Calvert  Sts.,  J.  C.  Horton,  Pass'r  Agent. 
WASHINQTON-705  15th  St.,  N.  W.,  L.  8.  Brown,  General  Agent. 


FRANK  S.  GANNON,  3d  Vice-Pres.  and  Gen'l  Mgr.,  J.  M.  GULP,  Traffic  Mgr.,  W.  A.  TURK,  Gen'l  Pass'r  AQ  , 

WASHINGTON,    O.    C. 


. .    N  E  W        B  O  O  K  S 


For  the  student  of  economics  who 
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book  is  among  the  best  written.  It  is 
clear,  clean,  and  logical,  and  removed 
from  all  partisanship. —  Chicago  In- 
ter Ocean. 

All  topics  are  treated  in  a  style  so 
perspicuous  and  forceful  as  to  give 
them  new  interest.  .  Mr.  Young  has 
gone  much  out  of  the  beaten  track  in 
tariff  discussion,  and  has  introduced 

some  original  and  striking  arguments  which  afford  new  food  for 

thought. —  /'//<•  I^rotcctionist . 


Protection 

and 

Progress 

BY  JOHN  P.  YOUNG 
of  the  San  Francisco 
Chronicle 

Price,  $1.25 


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new  and  remarkable  volume  of  essays, 
the  best  since  the  days  of  Emerson: 

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literary  form,  which  seems  to  hide  the 

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to  be  a  practical  help  to  many  in  the 
conduct  of  life." 

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Some 

Philosophy 
of  the 
Hermetics 

BY  PAUL  KARISHKA 


El 
Reshid 


By 

PAUL 
KARISHKA 


Price,  $1.25 


A  novel  by  the  author  of  "  Some 
Philosophy  of  the  Hermetics."  In 
this  story  there  is  the  same  pure 
mysticism,  but  with  such  a  practical 
side  to  its  unique  philosophy  that  it 
would  attract  all  minds  absorbed 
in  the  philosophy  of  life.  One  can 
not  help  being  attracted  by  its  fine 
literary  style  —  for  it  is  a  very  poem 
in  ideas  and  expression,  in  the  most 
simple  and  beautiful  English. 


RAND,  McNALLY   &   COMPANY, 

CHICAGO   AND   NEW   YORK. 


233967 


A 

"Ferris" 
Ham 


and 


Boneless  Bacon 


Six  Blue  Stripes  woven  in  the 
cover  and  the  Metal  Seal  prove  the 
"FERRIS"  of  It. 


"A  Little  Higher  in  Price,  But-!" 


RAND,  McNALLY  &  CO.'S 

\\ 

PICTORIAL  GUIDE 

TO 

WASHINGTON 

AND  ENVIRONS 


INCLUDING  COMPLETE  DESCRIPTIONS 
OF  THE  CAPITOL,  LIBRARY  OF  CON- 
<;KKSS,  WHITE  HOUSE,  THE  DEPART- 

MKNTS.  MOUNT  VERNON,  ARLINGTON, 
AND  ALL  OTHER  POINTS  OF  INTEREST. 


ILLUSTRATIONS  FROM  RK<  KNT  PHOTOGRAPHS,  TOGETHER  WITH  MAPS,  PLANS,  ETC. 
PREPARED  ESPECIALLY  FOR  THE  WORK. 


COPYRIGHT,  1900,  BY  RAND,  MCNALLY  &  COMPANY. 
COPYRIGHT,  1901,  BY  RAND,  MCNALLY  &  COMPANY. 


CHICAGO   AND   NEW   YORK  : 

RAND,  McNALLY   &   COMPANY,  PUBLISHERS, 
1901. 


THE    CAPITOL 


EAST   FRONT. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.    AN  INTRODUCTION  TO  WASHINGTON 11 

Railways,  Cabs,  Streets,  Etc 11 

District  Government 14 

II.    A  TOUR  OF  THE  CAPITOL 15 

III.  THE  LIBRARY  OF  CONGRESS 45 

IV.  ON  CAPITOL  HILL 79 

V.    FROM  THE  CAPITOL  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE 85 

VI     AT  THE  EXECUTIVE  MANSION 91 

VII.     THE  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENTS 99 

VIII.    FROM  THE  MONUMENT  TO  THE  MUSEUMS     .     .     .     : 115 

The  Washington  Monument 115 

Some  Scientific  Departments 119 

IX.    THE  CORCORAN  AND  OTHER  ART  GALLERIES 129 

X.     CHURCHES,  CLUBS,  THEATERS,  ETC 135 

XI.    OFFICIAL  ETIQUETTE  AT  THE  CAPITAL 139 

XII.    STREETS,  SQUARES,  AND  RESIDENCES 143 

XIII.    EXCURSIONS  ABOUT  WASHINGTON 159 

1.  To  Mount  Vernon 159 

2.  To  Arlington  National  Cemetery  and  Fort  Meyer 172 

3.  To  the  Soldiers'  Home,  Rock  Creek  Church,  Fort  Stevens,  Battle 

and  National  Cemeteries,  Catholic  University,  and  Brookland    .  180 

4.  To  the  "Zoo,"  Rock  Creek  National  Park,  and  Chevy  Chase     .  185 

5.  Georgetown  and  its  Vicinity 186 

6.  Georgetown  to  Tennallytown  and  Glen  Echo    . 188 

7.  Georgetown  to  Glen  Echo,  Cabin  John,  and  Great  Falls    ...  189 

8.  To  Bladensburg  and  Kendall  Green 191 

9.  To  Benning  and  Chesapeake  Beach 191 


10 


I. 

AN  INTRODUCTION  TO  WASHINGTON. 


Washington  has  two  railway  stations 
and  one  steamboat  landing.  The  railway 
stations  are  : 

(1)  Baltimore    &    Ohio    Station,    at 
New  Jersey  Avenue  and   C   Street,  one 
Mock  north  of  the  Capitol 

grounds.      Into    this    old,  Railway 

ante  bellum  station  of  the  Stations. 

oldest  working  railroad  in 
the  country  come  the  Royal  Blue  and  all 
other  trains  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  sys- 
tem and  its  connections  from  the  North 
and  West,  and  from  the  South  by  way  of 
the  Shenandoah  Valley.  Street  cars  may 
he  taken  here  lor  any  part  of  the  city,  and 
baggage  wagons  and  electric  cabs  will  be 
found  in  waiting.  It  has  no  restaurant, 
but  several  exist  near  by. 

(2)  Pennsylvania   Railroad  Station,   at 
Sixth  and  B  streets.     This  is  half  a  block 
from    Pennsylvania    Avenue,   midway  be- 
tween the  Capitol  and  the  Treasury,  and 
convenient  to  street  cars.      Carriages  and 
express  wagons  are  always    in  wait  inn 
This  is  the  station  for  all   trains  of  the 

Pennsylvania  <  Baltimore  &  Potomac)  and  Northern  Central  railroads,  and  their  con- 
nections north  and  east,  including  the  through  train*  to  and  from  Boston;  and  for 
trains  to  and  from  the  South  over  the  Southern  Railway,  Atlantic  Coast  Line,  Chesa- 
peake A:  Ohio  Kailroad.  and  Seaboard  Air  Line.  There  is  an  excellent  restaurant  in  the 
building,  which,  though  rather  small,  is  convenient. 

The  Steamboat  Landing  for  all  Potomac  boats  and  ferries  —  Norfolk.  Mount  Vernon, 
Alexandria,   etc.,    is  at  the  foot  of   Seventh   Street.     Steamboat  leaves 
for  Fort  Monroe  and  Norfolk  every  evening  at  6.30.  Steamboats. 

The  street -car  system  of  the  city  is  extensive  and  convenient.     All 
the  principal  lines  are  operated  on  the  underground  electric  trolley  system,  and  all  are 
controlled  by  either  the  Capital  Traction  Company  or  the  Metropolitan  Railroad  Com- 
pany.     Kach  transfers  from  line  to  line  of  its  own  system. 

The  cars  on  Pennsylvania  Avenue  are  green  or  yellow.     The  green  cars  run  between 
Georgetown    and  the  Navy   Yard  ;    the  yellow  cars  between  Mount   Pleasant,   at  the 
northern  extremity  of  Fourteenth  Street,  and  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Rail- 
road Station.     These  lines  separate  at  the  Peace  Monument,  and  at  New      Street  Cars. 
York  Avenue,  and  both  transfer  with  each  other,  and  with  the  Seventh 
Street  line.     The  Seventh  Street  line  runs  from  the  Arsenal  and  steamboat  wharves 

U 


EQUESTRIAN   STATUE  OF  WASHINGTON 

IN   WASHINGTON  CIRCLE. 

By  Clark  Mills. 


12  PICTORIAL   GUIDE   TO   WASHINGTON. 

north  to  the  boundary,  where  it  connects  with  the  Brightwood  line  for  the  Soldiers' 
Home,  Brightwood,  and  other  suburbs  to  Fort  Green,  eight  miles  from  the  Treasury.  A 
line  along  U  Street  connects  the  Seventh  and  Fourteenth  street  lines,  and  extends  to  the 
boundary  at  Rock  Creek,  where  it  connects  with  the  cars  for  Zoological  Park  and 
Chevy  Chase.  The  Chevy  Chase  cars  also  come  directly  to  the  Treasury  during  the 
busy  hours  of  the  day.  The  above  lines  are  operated  by  the  Capital  Traction  Company 
and  exchange  free  transfers. 

The  Metropolitan  lines  extend  from  Georgetown  along  M  Street,  Connecticut  Avenue. 
H,  Fourteenth,  and  F  streets  to  Capitol  Hill,  where  they  skirt  the  western  and  northern 
side  of  the  Capitol  grounds,  pass  the  Library  of  Congress,  and  run  eastward  to  the  edge 
of  the  city.  This  is  popularly  known  as  the  F  Street  line.  At  George- 
Suburban  town  it  connects  with  a  line  up  the  Potomac  Valley  to  Cabin  John  Bridge 
Lines*  and  Great  Falls,  and  also  one  to  Tennallytown  and  Rockville.  This  com- 

pany also  controls  the  Connecticut  Avenue  line  to  Mount  Pleasant ;  the 
Eleventh  Street,  Ninth  Street,  and  Brightwood  lines;  the  Belt  line;  two  lines  pene- 
trating the  Northeastern  quarter,  one  of  which  extends  to  Benning,  and  connects  with 
a  steam  railroad  for  Chesapeake  Beach  ;  and  the  two  suburban  lines  northeastward,  one 
reaching  Brookland,  and  the  other  Hyattsville,  Bladensburg,  Riverdale,  and  other  vil- 
lages to  Berwyn,  Md.  All  of  these  exchange  transfers,  and  all  center  at  the  Treasury, 
but  the  various  divisions  are  not  separated  by  the  colors  of  the  cars. 

Fare  everywhere  within  the  city,  5  cents  ;  and  six  tickets  are  sold  for  25  cents,  good 
upon  all  lines.  A  line  of  herdics  also  runs  uppn  Sixteenth  Street,  which  exchanges 
transfers  with  the  F  Street  line  at  the  corner  of  H  and  Sixteenth  Street. 

Hacks  and  cabs  are  numerous,  and  not  expensive;  and  the  authorized  rates  are  as 
follows : 

One- Horse    Vehicles.      By   the   trip  — Day  rates,  between  5  A.  M.  and  12.30  A.  M., 

each  passenger,  fifteen  squares  or  less,  25  cents ;  each  additional  five  squares  or  parts 

of  squares,  10  cents.     Midnight  rates,  between  12.30  A.  M.  and  5  A.  M.. 

Public  each  passenger,  fifteen  squares  or  less,  40  cents;  each  additional  live 

Carriages.        squares  or  parts  of  squares,   15  cents.     By  the  hour  —  Day  rates,  one 

or  two  passengers,  first  hour,  75  cents ;  each  additional  quarter  hour 

or  part  thereof,  20  cents ;  three  or  four  passengers,  first  hour,   $1 ;  each  additional 

quarter  hour  or  part  thereof,  25  cents.     Midnight  rates  about  double  these. 

Two-Hwse  Vehicles.  About  double  the  rates  for  one-horse  cabs.  The  law  says  that 
when  vehicles  are  not  engaged  by  the  hour,  trip  rates  shall  be  charged ;  but  when 
charges  for  consecutive  trips  exceed  rates  per  hour,  charges  shall  be  by  the  hour. 

Both  the  Pennsylvania  and  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  railway  companies  maintain  a  system 
of  cabs  intended  especially  for  persons  going  to  and  from  their  stations,  but  available 
for  general  services.     Those  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Company  are  electric  automobiles. 
Bicycles  are  extremely  numerous  in  Washington,  and  many  places  exist 
Bicycles.  where  they  can  be  rented.     The  law  requires  them  to  keep  off  the  side- 

walks, avoid  excessive  speed,  and  carry  lamps  at  night.  The  favorite 
out-of-town  run  is  up  the  Potomac. 

An  alphabetical  list  of  hotels  will  be  found  at  the  end  of  this  book. 

Restaurants  have  multiplied  and  improved  in  Washington  during  the  last  ten  years. 

The  most  famous  restaurants  in  Washington,  since  the  disappearance  of  Wormley's 

and  Welcker's,  are  the  Chamberlin  and  Harvey's.     The  former  occupies 

Hotels  and        a  double  house  at  I  and  Fifteenth  streets,  and  serves  game  and  costly 

Restaurants*   delicacies  beloved  of  clubmen,  prepared  in  the  Southern  style  which  has 

made  its  terrapin,  canvasbacks,  etc.,  celebrated.      The  other,  Harvey's. 

at  Pennsylvania  Avenue  and  Eleventh  Street,  is  noted  for  its  oysters.    These  and  the 


INTRODUCTION   TO   WASHINGTON.  13 

Shoreham.  Gordon,  and  Raleigh  are  favorite  resorts  for  after  -  the  -  theater  suppers. 
On  F,  G,  Ninth,  Seventh,  and  other  streets  in  the  region  near  the  public  buildings,  are 
a  large  number  of  dairies,  bakeries,  ice-cream  saloons,  and  eating-places  of  every  grade, 
resorted  to  by  government  clerks,  men  and  women,  high  and  low.  Dining-rooms  are 
numerous  on  the  avenue  and  in  Georgetown.  The  restaurants  in  the  Capitol  are  good, 
especially  that  in  the  Senate  basement,  and  there  are  good  ones  at  the  Library  of  Con- 
LTIV-S  and  National  Museum. 

Professional  boarding-houses,  often  with  the  names  and  pretensions  of  "hotels,"  are 
plentiful,  particularly  in  the  region  north  of  the  avenue,  between  Tenth  and  Fourteenth 
streets,  and  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Pension  Building;  and  this 
quarter  also  abounds  in  private  houses  renting  rooms  and  perhaps  fur-        Boarding- 
nishing  board.    All  these  are  indicated  by  small  signs  displayed  at  the  houses. 

door  or  in  a  window.    The  best  plan  for  a  person  desiring  such  quarters 
is  to  walk  about,  observe  these  signs,  and  examine  what  suits  him.     A  man  and  his 
wife  can  get  very  comfortable  lodging  and  board  for  $60  to  $75  a  month. 

The  shops  of  Washington  are  extensive  and  fine.     The  principal  shopping  streets  are 
Pennsylvania  Avenue,  Seventh,  Ninth,  F,  and  G  streets,  between  Ninth 
and  Fourteenth  streets,  but  there  are  local  groups  of  stores,  especially  for  Shops, 

provisions,  on  Capitol  Hill,  in  Georgetown,  and  along  H  Street,  N.  E. 

The  District  of  Columbia  had  a  peculiar  origin,  and  its  constitution  and  history 
account  for  many  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  present  capital  city.     The  first  Congress 
of  the  I'nitrd  States  had  the  ta-k  of  establishing  a  Federal  capital,  under 
a  plan  for  taking  in  some  small  tract  of  land  and  exercising  exclusive          Origin  Of 
jurisdiction  over  it.     In  1790  a  bill  was  passed,  after  many  postpone-  District 

incuts  and  much  hot  discu  — ion.  accepting  from  the  States  of  Maryland  of  Columbia. 
and  Virginia  a  tract  ten  miles  square  on  the  Potomac,  to  be  called  the 
District  of  Columbia:  but  in  ISM  Virginia's  portion  —  some  thirty-six  square  miles 
south  of  the  river  —  was  ceded  back  to  her.  Three  Commissioners  were  appointed 
by  tlie  President  i Washington)  to  purchase  the  land  from  its  owners,  and  to  provide 
suitable  buildings  for  the  Government.  Major  Pierre  Charles  L'Enfant,  a  French 
engineer  who  had  fought  in  the  Revolution,  was  appointed  to  lay  out  the  city,  but 
proved  >o  irreconcilable  to  discipline  that  it  became  necessary  to  dismiss  him,  though 
his  plan  was  essentially  followed  by  Ellicott,  his  assistant,  who  succeeded  him. 

The  avenues  were  named  after  the  States,  and  in  a  certain  order.     By  reason  of  its 
midway  and  influential  position,   that  had  already  given  it   the    excellent  soubriquet 
••  Keystone  State."  Pennsylvania  was  entitled  to  the  name  of  the  great 
central  avenue.     The  avenues  south  of  this  received  the  names  of  the  Arrangement 
Southern  States ;  the  avenues  which  crossed  Pennsylvania  were  named        of  Streets. 
after  the  Middle  States,  Maryland.  Delaware,  New  Jersey,  and  New  York, 
while  the  New  England  States  were  left  to  designate  the  avenues  then  regarded  as 
remote  possibilities  among  the  swamps  and  hills  of  the  northwest.     The  curious  way 
in  which  the  capital  has  developed  along  the  lines  of  the  last-named  group  is  typical 
of  the  growth  and  change  in  the  balance  of  the  whole  country  since  L'Enfaut's  day. 

The  rectilinear  streets  run  exactly  north  and  south  and  east  and  west.  The  streets 
running  east  and  west  are  known  by  the  letters  of  the  alphabet,  so  we  have  North  A 
and  South  A,  North  B  and  South  B,  and  so  on ;  at  right  angles  to  the  alphabetical 
streets  are  the  streets  bearing  numbers,  and  beginning  their  house  enumeration  at 
a  line  running  due  north  and  south  through  the  Capitol.  This  divides  the  city  into 
four  quarters,  Northwest,  Northeast,  Southeast,  and  Southwest,  each  with  its  own  set 
of  numbers  for  the  houses,  arranged  upon  the  decimal  system  —  that  is,  100  numbers 
for  each  block.  This  is  repeated  in  a  direction  away  from  each  of  the  Capitol  streets ; 


14  PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 

all  addresses,  therefore,  should  bear  the  added  designation  of  the  quarter  by  its 
initials  —  N.  W.,  N.  E.,  8.  E.,  or  8.  W.  In  this  book,  as  nearly  everything  mentioned 
is  in  the  Northwest  Quarter,  these  initials  are  uniformly  omitted  for  that  quarter, 
but  are  always  supplied  elsewhere. 

In  1800  the  seat  of  Government  was  established  in  Washington  City,  which  was 
first  so  called,  it  is  said,  by  the  Commissioners  in  1791.     The  General  himself,  who 
was  its  most  active  promoter,  always  spoke  of  it  as  the  Federal  City. 
Early  The  town  was  all  in  the  woods,  and  had  only  3,000  inhabitants,  mostly 

History.  living  in  the  northwestern  quarter,  or  on  Capitol  Hill.     Nevertheless 

it  grew  until  1814,  when,  after  a  weak  resistance  at  Bladensburg,  it  was 
captured  by  the  British,  who  set  fire  to  the  public  buildings  and  some  private  resi- 
dences, intending  to  destroy  the  town  altogether.  A  hurricane  of  wind  and  rain 
came  that  night  to  complete  the  destruction  in  some  respects,  but  this  extinguished 
the  conflagration.  Next  day  the  British  left  in  a  panic  of  causeless  fear,  excepting 
a  large  contingent  of  deserters,  who  took  this  opportunity  to  stay  behind  and  "grow 
up  with  the  country."  The  city  was  immediately  rebuilt,  and  in  1860  it  contained 
61,000  inhabitants.  When  the  Civil  War  was  over  the  city  found  itself  with  an 
enlarged  population  and  a  vastly  greater  importance. 

The  population  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  including  the  city,  is  now  about  300,000, 
and  it  is  steadily  growing.    The  Federal  Government,  in  lieu  of  assessed  taxes,  contributes 
one-half  of  all  the  District's  expenses,  and  practically  has  done  much 
Population.       more  than  that  in  the  form  of  public  grounds,  boulevards,  and  reserva- 
tions free  to  the  public,  and  maintained  at  the  public  expense. 

The  relations  of  the  District  and  Federal  City  to  the  Union  are  very  peculiar.    After 
several  experiments  in  municipal  government,  Congress  created  a  form  of  administra- 
tion of  District  and  city  affairs,  which  consists  simply  of  two  civilian 
District  Commissioners  appointed  by  the  President,  and  confirmed  by  the  Senate, 

Government,     and  one  army  engineer  officer  detailed  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  the  three 
constituting    a  Board  of    Commissioners  for  three  years.      They  are 
empowered  by  Congress  to  make,  and  change  at  will,  building,  health,  and  police  regu- 
lations.    They  also  appoint  all  subordinate  officials  and  clerks. 

They  are  required  to  make  and  submit  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  annual  esti- 
mates for  all  the  expenditures  within  the  District  for  the  ensuing  year.  One-half  of  the 
amount  to  be  raised  is  assessed  upon  the  District,  the  other  half  is  appropriated  by 
Congress.  The  headquarters  of  District  affairs  is  in  the  District  Building  on  Louisiana 
Avenue,  near  City  Hall.  The  District  courts,  except  the  Police  Court,  are  in  the  City 
Hall,  an  old  building  in  Judiciary  Square,  facing  Four-and-a-half  Street,  where  the 
Marshal  and  certain  other  functionaries  also  have  offices.  It  was  in  this  edifice,  built  for 
the  courthouse,  that  Garfield's  assassin,  Guiteau,  was  tried,  and  other  noted  cases  have 
been  heard  there.  In  front  of  it,  upon  a  marble  column,  stands  a  monument  of  Lincoln 
carved  by  Lot  Flannery,  who  has  been  described  as  a  "  self-taught  sculptor." 


II. 


A  TOUR  OF  THE  CAPITOL. 


THE  CAPITOL— FROM  CAPITOL  GROUNDS. 

The  great  advantage  that  Washington  enjoys  in  having  been  intelligently  platted 
before  any  building  of  consequence  had  begun,  is  signally  shown  in  the  choice  of  this 
central  and  sightly  hilltop  as  the  position  of  the  Capitol.     The  grounds 
in  front  of  the  building  were  made  perfectly  level,  but  in  the  rear  they  Capitol 

sloped  downward  some  eighty  feet  to  the  Potomac  flats,  which  are  over-  Grounds. 

flowed  occasionally  even  yet.  The  present  arrangement  of  the  park  dates 
from  1874,  when  it  was  enlarged  to  its  present  enclosure  of  forty-six  acres,  and  beautified 
by  the  late  Frederick  Law  Olmstead.  The  splendid  marble  terraces  on  the  western  side 
of  the  building,  and  their  ornamental  approaches,  together  costing  $200,000,  are  a  part 
of  the  general  scheme  of  outdoor  decoration,  which  each  year  becomes  more  admirable 
a^  the  trees  and  shrubberies  mature.  A  pretty  feature  of  the  northwestern  part  of  the 
park  is  the  ivy-covered  rest-house,  one  window  of  which  looks  into  a  grotto.  The  low 
stone  towers,  becoming  vine-covered,  in  the  western  parts  of  the  park,  are  the  orifices 
through  which  is  drawn  the  supply  of  fresh  air  for  the  ventilation  of  the  Senate  cham- 
ber and  hall  of  Representatives.  Immediately  in  front  (east)  of  the  Capitol  is  the 

15 


16  PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 

Plaza,  where  vast  crowds  assemble  to  witness  presidential  inaugurations,  and  here, 
facing  the  main  entrance,  stands  Greenough's  statue  of  Washington,  sitting  in  a  curulc 
chair  as  the  first  great  tribune  of  the  American  people. 

A  statue  of  Washington  was  ordered  by  Congress  in  1832,  to  signalize  the  centennial 
anniversary  of  his  birth.  The  commission  was  given  to  Horatio  Greenough,  who  was 

then  residing  in  Florence,  Italy,  the  only  restriction  upon  the  execution 
GfCCIlOUgh's  of  his  plan  being  that  it  should  not  be  equestrian,  and  that  the  coiinte- 
Statuc  of  nance  should  conform  to  that  of  the  Houdon  statue.  His  price  of  $20,- 
Washiflgton.  000  was  accepted,  and  he  devoted  the  principal  part  of  his  time  for  right 

years  to  its  completion.  The  intention  was  to  place  this  statue  in  the 
center  of  the  rotunda,  over  the  mausoleum  provided  for  Washington  in  the  undercroft ; 
but  by  the  time  it  was  completed  and  had  been  brought  here  in  a  special  ship  (1841),  the 
idea  of  placing  the  bones  of  Washington  in  the  Capitol  had  been  abandoned,  and  it  was 
decided  to  leave  it  out-of-doors.  This  statue,  which  is  covered  from  the  weather  in 
winter  and  invisible,  is  of  Carrara  marble,  and  represents,  in  heroic  size,  the  Father 
of  his  Country  in  a  Roman  toga,  which  has  slipped  from  his  shoulders,  lifting  a  hand  of 
warning  and  advice  to  the  nation.  As  a  work  of  art,  it  has  caused  great  controversy 
among  people  of  taste.  It  is  probable  that  we  know  too  much  of  Washington  as  a  man 
—  he  is  too  near  to  us  —  to  make  an  attempt  at  classic  idealization  of  him  seem  natural  or 
pleasing. 

The  act  of  Congress  of  July  9,  1790,  which  established  the  District  of  Columbia  as 
the  National  Capital,  provided  that  prior  to  the  first  Monday  of  December,  1800,  the 
Commissioners  should  have  finished  a  suitable  building  for  the  sessions  of  Congress. 
When  the  Commissioners  had  accepted  L'Enfant's  plan  for  the  city,  they  found  this  hill 

selected  by  him  as  the  site  of  the  national  legislative  halls,  and  as  soon  as 
Beginnings  the  Commissioners  could  accumulate  money  enough  from  their  land  sales 
Of  the  to  make  a  respectable  showing,  they  began  the  erection  of  the  two  build- 

Capitol.  ings  first  needed  —  the  Executive  Mansion  and  the  Congressional  halls 

and  offices,  which  at  Jefferson's  suggestion,  it  is  said,  came  to  be  called 
the  Capitol.  One  of  the  interesting  features  of  early  life  at  the  seat  of  Government  is 
the  degree  to  which  formal  classics  ruled  in  taste.  The  corner-stones  were  laid  with 
Masonic  rites  and  all  possible  parade,  George  Washington  officiating.  October  13,  1792, 
was  the  date  at  the  President's  House  ;  but  the  corner-stone  of  the  Capitol  (marked  in 
1895  by  a  bronze  plate)  was  not  laid  until  September  18,  1793.  Materials  were  slow  and 
uncertain,  and  had  not  Virginia  and  Maryland  advanced  the  money  Congress  refused, 
the  work  would  have  stopped  altogether.  The  town  was  yet  only  a  muddy  village  in 
the  woods  ;  and  the  Commissioners  had  to  fight  opposition  and  obstacles  at  every  step. 
Nevertheless  an  edifice,  such  as  it  was,  was  ready  for  the  Government,  which  came  from 
Philadelphia,  bag  and  baggage,  in  a  single  sloop,  and  took  possession  during  Octo- 
ber, 1800. 

Whose  was  the  plan  has  excited  much  controversy,  for  several  minds  contributed. 
The  original  sketch  came  from  Doctor  Thornton,  a  native  of  the  West  Indies,  and  then 

in  charge  of  the  Patent  Office,  and  so  pleased  Washington  that  it  was 
Plan  and  adopted.  The  plans  were  redrawn  by  Stephen  H.  Hallett,  who  was  a 

Architects.        student  of  Nash,  the  most  famous  house-builder  of  his  time.     Hoban, 

the  architect  of  the  White  House,  and  others  made  suggestions,  so  that 
Thornton's  plan  was  much  modified  ;  still  less  did  it  foreshadow  the  Capitol  of  to-day. 
Only  the  north  wing,  or  that  part  of  the  main  building  containing  the  present 
Supreme  Court  rooms,  was  finished  in  1800,  the  opposite  wing  not  being  ready  until 
1811.  A  wooden  passageway  connected  them  across  the  space  now  occupied  by  the 
basement  of  the  rotunda.  The  expenditure  up  to  that  time  had  been  $787,000.  When, 


A   TOUR   OF  THE  CAPITOL. 


17 


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18  PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 

in  1814,  the  British  captured  the  city,  they  entered  the  legislative  halls,  held  a  mock 
session  of  Congress,  and  soon  the  building  was  in  flames.  In  1815  Congress  authorized 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  borrow  $500,000  to  begin  repairs  (for  the  walls  stood), 
and  in  1818  undertook  the  erection  of  the  central  part.  B.  H.  Latrobe  took  the  archi- 
tectural superintendence  of  the  restoration,  while  the  new  central  structure  was  planned 
and  supervised  by  Charles  Bulfinch.  The  original  building  was  completed  in  1827,  at  a 
cost,  including  the  grading  of  the  grounds,  repairs,  etc.,  of  not  quite  $2,500,000.  A  fire 
in  the  library  compelled  the  rebuilding  of  the  western  front  in  1851,  when  additions  were 

made,  and  the  same  year  the  corner-stones  of  the  extensions,  now  known 
Cost.  as  the  House  and  Senate  wings,  were  laid  ;  but  these  were  not  completed 

until  1859  (at  a  cost  of  nearly  $9,000,000).  Meanwhile  the  low  wooden 
dome  which  had  temporarily  covered  the  rotunda  was  removed  in  1856,  and  the  erection 
of  the  present  iron  dome  was  begun. 

Add  to  the  sums  above  noted  a  million  dollars  for  additional  space  for  the  grounds 
and  the  obtaining  of  water,  two  millions  for  improvements  of  the  grounds  and  terraces, 
another  million  for  repairs  and  improvements  on  the  building  itself,  and  various  other 
items,  and  the  cost  of  the  Capitol  approaches  $15,000,000. 

The  original  and  proper  front  of  the  Capitol  is  the  eastern,  and  the  city  has  grown 
behind  rather  than  before  the  statehouse  of  the  nation,  as  it  was  expected  to  do. 
This  contingency  has  been  met  by  improvements  at  the  rear  of  the  building  to 
increase  the  stateliness  of  its  approaches,  so  that  the  Capitol  now  has  two  faces,  different 
but  substantially  equal  in  merit.  The  western  front,  although  on  the  side  from  which 
most  visitors  approach,  requires  a  long,  toilsome  climbing  of  terraces  and  steps;  whereas 
the  street  cars  carry  passengers  to  the  level  of  the  basement  on  the  south  side,  and  on 
the  north  side  almost  to  the  very  entrance.  It  is  therefore  easier,  as  well  as  more  proper, 
to  begin  one's  survey  of  the  great  structure  at  the  architect's  original  front  door. 

This  eastern  front  is  imposing  from  every  standpoint.  One  of  the  most  satis- 
factory views  of  it  is  that  obtained  from  the  little  car-passengers'  shelter  on  the  north 

side  of  the  grounds.  The  massive  and  classic  proportions  of  the  Senate 
East  Front,  wing  are  near  at  hand,  and  its  ornamental  front  cuts  deeply  into  the 

dome,  whose  supports  sink  away  in  grand  perspective  to  the  Representa- 
tive wing,  while  the  majestic  dome  itself  rises  tier  upon  tier  of  columns  and  circling 
architraves  to  its  convergent  roof  and  statue- crowned  tholus.  There  is  a  wonderful 
feeling  of  breadth  and  grandeur,  yet  of  buoyancy,  in  this  oblique  aspect  of  the  noble 
pile  —  all  sunny  white,  save  the  color  in  the  folds  of  the  flag. 

The  Capitol  is  751  feet  long,  350  feet  in  greatest  width,  and  covers  nearly  four  acres 
of  ground,  with  153,112  square  feet  of  floor  space.  It  is  155  feet  high  to  the  cornices  of 

the  main  roof,  or  288  feet  to  the  crest  of  the  Liberty  statue.  The  dome 
Style  and  is  of  iron,  weighs  nearly  nine  million  pounds,  and  was  completed  in  1865, 

Dimensions,     replacing  the  earlier  wooden  dome.     The  architecture  is  modified  Corin- 
thian upon  a  rustic  base,  plus  a  dome,  and  the  material  of  the  older 
central  part  is  Virginia  (Aquia  Creek)  sandstone,  painted  white,  but  the  newer  wings 
are  built  of  Massachusetts  marble. 

In  front  of  the  building  stretches  a  broad  paved  plaza,  and  three  flights  of  broad 
steps  lead  up  the  central  entrance  and  to  each  wing,  lending  a  very  effective  appearance 

of  breadth  and  solidity  to  the  whole  mass,  whose  walls  are  largely  hidden 
Crawford's  by  the  rows  of  monolithic,  fluted  columns  of  Maryland  marble  that 
Group.  sustain  the  three  broad  porticos.  The  porticos  of  the  wings  have  each 

twenty-two  columns,  and  ten  more  columns  on  each  of  their  northern 
and  western  fronts.  The  pediment  of  the  southern  wing,  which  contains  the  House  of 
Representatives,  has  no  statuary,  but  the  fa9ade  of  the  northern  wing,  where  the  Senate 


A  TOUR   OF  THE   CAPITOL. 


19 


sits,  is  doubly  adorned.  The  tympanum  is  filled  with  an  immense  group  by  Thomas 
Crawford,  emblematic  of  American  progress,  which  has  displaced  the  Indians  with  the 
arts  of  agriculture,  commerce,  and  industrial  production,  supported  by  the  sword.  This 

is  considered  the  chef-d'ceuvre  of  this 
talented  American  sculptor  and  will  repay 
careful  study.  Crawford  was  paid  $1 7, 000 
for  the  models,  and  the  cutting  of  the 
marble  (from  Lee,  Mass.)  by  several 
skilled  Italian  carvers  cost  $26,000  more. 
The  grand  central  portico,  which  dates 
from  1825,  is  160  feet  wide,  and  has 
twenty-four  columns  carrying  a  pediment 
of  80  feet  span  filled  with  an  allegorical 
group  cut  in  sandstone, 
after  a  design  by  John  Central 

Quincy  Adams  when  Sec-  Portico. 

retary  of  State.  It  was 
executed  by  Luigi  Persico,  a  prominent 
Roman  sculptor,  who  had  many  commis- 
sions here.  This  group  represents  the 
"  Genius  of  America."  America,  armed. 
is  resting  her  shield  upon  an  altar,  while 
an  eagle  perches  at  her  feet.  She  seems 
listening  to  Hope,  and  points  in  response 
to  Justice,  who  holds  the  Constitution, 
inscribed  September  17,  1787  (the  date  of 
its  adoption),  and  her  scales.  From  the 
level  of  the  portico  extend  two  great 
buttresses,  each  adorned  with  pieces  of 
colossal  statuary  in  marble.  That  upon 
the  south  side  represents  Columbus,  and 
is  entitled  "The  Discovery  of  America." 
The  sculptor  was  Persico  (1846),  who 
exactly  copied  the  armor  from  a  suit  worn  by  Columbus,  yet  preserved  in  Genoa.  The 
opposite  group  (north)  U  by  Greenough,  and  represents  an  incident  of  frontier  life  as 
typical  of  "Civilization,  or  the  First  Settlement  of  America."  Each  of  these  groups 
cost  |24,<M)0. 

The  inauguration  of  Presidents  of  the  United  States  has  taken  place  upon  this  portico 
since  the  time  of  Jackson.  A  draped  staging  is  extended  outward  to  accommodate  the 
high  officials  who  form  a  part  of  the  ceremonial,  and  here  the  oath  of  office  is  adminis- 
tered by  the  Chief  Justice  in  full  view  of  a  multitude  of  citizens. 

In  the  center  of  this  portico  is  the  great  Rogers  bronze  door  which  opens  directly  into 
the  rotunda  under  the  dome,  and  is  among  the  most  interesting  objects  at  the  Capitol. 
It  was  designed  in  Rome  in  1858  by  Randolph  Rogers,  who  received  $8,000  for  his 
plaster  models,  and  was  cast  in  .Munich,  in  1861,  by  F.  Von  Muller,  who  was  paid 
$17,000  in  gold,  then  at  a  high  premium.  It  is  nineteen  feet  high  and  weighs  ten  tons. 

The  leaves  or  valves  of  the  door,  which  is  double,  stand  in  superbly 
enriched  casing,  and  when  opened  fold  back  into  fitting  jambs.     Each  Rogers 

leaf  is  divided  into  eight  panels,  in  addition  to  the  transom  panel  under    Bronze  Door, 
the  arch.     Each  panel  contains  a  complete  scene  in  alto-relievo.     The 
scenes  portrayed    constitute  the  principal  events  in  the  life  of  Columbus  and  the 


GREENOUGH'S  "THE  RESCUE." 
Central  Portico. 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 


discovery  of  America,  with  an  ornate  enrichment  of  emblematic  designs.  On  the  key  »t 
the  arch  of  the  casing  is  the  head  of  Columbus,  and  on  the  sides  of  the  casing  are  four 
typical  statuettes  in  niches  arranged  chronologically  —  Asia,  Africa,  Europe,  and  America. 
The  remainder  of  the  casing  is  embellished  with  a  running  border  of  ancient  armor, 
banners,  and  heraldic  designs,  and  at  the  bottom,  on  either  side,  an  anchor,  all  in  basso- 
relievo,  and  emblematic  of  navigation  and  conquest.  On  the  frame  of  each  leaf  of  the 
door,  set  in  niches,  are  sixteen  statuettes  of  the  patrons  and  contemporaries  of  Colum- 
bus, given  in  the  order  of  their  association  with  the  announcement  and  execution  of  his 
theory  of  geographical  exploration.  The  first  eight  figures  are  associated  in  pairs  when 
the  doors  are  closed,  and  divided  when  opened.  All  are  labeled.  The  sixteenth  is 
Pizarro,  conqueror  of  Peru.  The  panels  illustrate  the  career  of  Columbus,  the  third 

scene  being  his  audience  at  the  court  of 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  Between  the 
panels  are  a  series  of  heads,  representing 
the  historians  of  the  voyages  of  Colum- 
bus, prominent  among  whom  are  Irving 
and  Prescott. 

Niches  on  each  side  of  this  imposing 
entrance  hold  statues  of  Mars  or  War  (on 
the  right  — a  noble  figure  of  a  Roman 
warrior)  and  of  Ceres  or  Peace  (on  the 
left  —  a  female  figure  with  flowers  and 
fruits)  modeled  by  Persico  and  costing 
together  $12,000;  while  above  the  door  is 
a  bust  of  Washington,  crowned  by  Fame 
and  Peace,  which  was  sculptured  by 
A.  Capellano  in  1827.  Capellano  is  not 
known  beyond  his  carvings  here. 

Passing  through  the  bronze  doors. 
we  enter  the  Rotunda.  It  occupies 
nearly  the  whole  width  of  the  center  of 
the  building,  and  is  unbroken  to  the 
summit  of  the  dome. 

It    is    96  feet   in  diameter  and  180 
feet  high  to  the  canopy.     Its  center  is 
the  center  of  the  Capitol.    The  pavement 
is  of  sandstone,  and  the  walls  are  plas- 
tered and  broken  into  panels  by  engaged  pillars,  above  which  there  is  a  broad  entabla- 
ture. This  is  surmounted  by  a  gallery  (which  has  as  good  a  "whispering" 
Rotunda.          echo  as  that  of  St.  Paul's),  formed  of  Corinthian  columns  connected  by  a 
balustrade;  and  this  gallery  and  the  Rotunda  are  lighted  by  a  belt  of  large 
windows,  outside  of  which  is  the  circular  row  of  columns  that  form  the  external  visible 
supports  of  the  dome.     From  the  entablature  carried  upon  these  pillars  springs  the  con- 
cavity of  the  dome,  arching  inward  to  an  opening  50  feet  in  diameter,  at  the  base  of  the 
lantern,  called  the  eye.    This  opening  is  encircled  by  a  gallery  and  canopied  by  a  painted 
ceiling,  consisting  of  a  circular  piece  of  iron,  covered  with  stucco,  65  feet  wide. 

In  the  vast  and  somewhat  obscure  space  of  this  immense  apartment  only  a  colossus,  like 
the  Statue  of  Liberty  in  New  York  harbor,  would  seem  a  fitting  ornament.  It  was  pro- 
posed to  cut  away  the  floor  in  the  center  and  erect  Greenough's  figure  of  Washington, 
now  on  the  plaza,  upon  an  elevated  pedestal  approached  from  the  crypt ;  but  this  was 


THE  ROGERS  BRONZE  DOOR. 


A  TOUR  OF  THE   CAPITOL.  21 

not  done,  and  all  attempts  at  decoration  have  been  confined  to  the  walls,  except  the 
placing  of  a  few  statues. 

Four  doors  open  out  of  the  Rotunda,  and  over  each  is  a  marble  panel  carved  in  high 
relief.    That  over  the  eastern,  or  main,  entrance  and  exit  is  by  Enrico  Causici  of  Verona,  a 
pupil  of  Canova.  and  represents  the  "Landing of  the  Pilgrims";  that  over 
the  northern  door  is  by  N.  Gevelot,  a  Frenchman,  and  pictures  William  Rotunda 

I  Vim  making  a  treaty  with  the  Delaware  Indians  ;  over  the  southern  door  Doors, 

is  another  group  by  Causici  — "Daniel  Boone  in  Conflict  with  the  Indians" — 
in  which  Boone's  face  was  copied  from  a  portrait  by  Hardinge,  and  over  the  western  door 


THE  LANDING  OF  COLUMBUS  AT  SAN   SALVADOR.—  Painting  by  John  Vanderlyn,  Rotunda. 

is  Capellano's  "Pocahontas  Saving  the  Life  of  John  Smith."    These  sculptors  were  all 
men  who  worked  here  about  1827,  and  each  was  paid  $3,500. 

Kadi  of  the  lower  wall  spaces  carries  one  of  the  big  historical  paintings  (18  by  12  feet), 
familiar  to  everybody  through  innumerable  reproductions  —  even  upon  the  paper  cur- 
rency  and  Columbian  postage  Stamps  of  the  Government.     All  are  by 
American   artists.      Each  has  attached  to  it  a  label  and   key-picture,  Rotunda 

giving  the  names  and  portion*  of  all  the  persons  represented  by  carefully  Wall 

drawn  portraits  in  its  groups.  They  fall  into  two  classes — "Early  Paintings. 
historical"  and  ••  Revolutionary.''  The  former  are  to  a  great  degree 
imaginative,  particularly  the  De  Soto  ;  but  the  latter  are  accurately  true  to  the  times  and 
scenes  they  purport  to  represent.  In  the  !ir-t  class  is  the  "Lauding  of  Columbus  at  San 
Salvador,"  in  1492.  painted  in  1839  by  Vanderlyn,  who  was  paid  $10,000  for  it  in  1842. 
The  "Discovery  of  the  Mississippi"  by  De  Soto,  in  1541,  was  painted  by  Wm.  H. 
Powell  in  18oO.  and  the  price  was  $12,000.  The  "Baptism  of  Pocahontas"  at  James- 
town, in  1013,  is  nearer  the  truth,  since  the  artist,  J.  G.  Chapman,  did  his  best  to 
represent  the  portraits  and  costumes  of  Rolfe,  Sir  Thomas  Dale,  and  other  Virginian 
colonists  and  Indian  chieftains,  who  may  be  supposed  present  at  the  ceremony.  Its  cost 
was  $10,000,  and  its  date  is  1836.  The  last  of  this  colonial  series,  by  Professor  Weir, 


,r 
22  PICTOEIAL  GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 

date  1840,  price  $10,000,  is  a  picture  of  the  farewell  service  on  board  the  unseaworthy 
Speedwell,  before  it  sailed  from  Delft  Haven  (the  port  of  Leyden,  Holland)  for  America, 
bearing  the  first  colony  of  Pilgrims,  who  were  finally  landed  on  Plymouth  Rock  by  the 
Mayflower. 

The  four  Revolutionary  paintings  are  by  Col.  John  Trumbull  (1756-1843),  who  was 
son  of  Gov.  Jonathan  Trumbull  of  Connecticut.  For  several  months  the  young  officer 
was  aid  and  military  secretary  to  Washington  After  the  war  he  studied  in  Europe, 
and  conceived  an  ambition  to  produce  this  series  of  national  paintings,  in  which  each 
face  is  drawn  from  life,  so  far  as  sittings  could  be  obtained,  while  others  are  copied  from 
approved  portraits.  This  faithfulness  of  detail  interferes  with  the  best  artistic  results, 
giving  a  certain  hardness  to  all  parts,  but  increases  the  historical  value  of  the  composi- 
tions. They  were  painted  between  1817  and  1824,  and  cost  the*  nation  $32,000  —  a  large 
sum  in  those  days.  Beside  each  picture  is  a  "key,"  by  consulting  which  the  names  of 
most  of  the  persons  may  be  learned. 

The  first  is  "Signing  the  Declaration  of  Independence"  in  the  Old  Hall  in  Phila- 
delphia in  1776,  the  arrangement  of  the  group  of  figures  having  been  made  as  .Jefferson. 
Franklin,  and  others  of  the  fathers  described  it  to  him.  The  presiding  officer  is  John 
Hancock.  The  "Surrender  of  Burgoyne  at  Saratoga"  to  General  Gates  is  from 
sketches  made  by  Trumbull  on  the  spot,  October  17,  1777.  The  artist  was  also  present 
at  the  "  Surrender  of  Lord  Cornwallis  at  Yorktown,"  portrayed  in  the  third  painting, 
where  the  British  are  marching  between  the  lines  of  the  American  and  French  allies. 
The  fourth  of  the  series  is  "The  Resignation  of  Washington"  as  Commander-in-chief 
of  the  American  armies,  which  took  place,  closely  as  depicted,  at  Annapolis  on  Decem- 
ber 23,  1783,  where  Congress  was  then  in  session  in  the  old  Maryland  State  House. 
The  commission  he  then  surrendered  is  preserved  in  the  Department  of  State,  and  the 
coat  worn  by  Washington  upon  this  occasion  may  be  seen  at  the  National  Museum. 

Above  each  of  the  eight  paintings  are  panels  with  arabesque  designs  by  Causici  and 
Capellano,  containing  medallion  heads  of  the  four  great  pioneers  of  American  discov- 
ery—  Columbus,  Raleigh,  Cabot,  and  La  Salle.  They  were  done  in  1827,  and  cost 
$9,500. 

The  frieze,  ten  feet  wide,  just  beneath  the  gallery,  was  left  blank  for  many  year-, 
but  in  1878  the  talented  Brumidi  began  a  series  of  paintings  intended  to  encircle  Hie 
room  (300  feet)  and  to  carry  out  the  historical  theme  to  which  all  the 
Rotunda  rotunda  decorations  conform.  They  are  chiaroscuro  drawings  in  distem- 

Frieze.  per — that  is,  expressed  merely  in  light  and  shade  and  painted  with  a 

glutinous  medium  upon  the  plaster.  A  procession  of  somewhat  conven- 
tional figures  in  strong  relief,  imitating  the  alto-relievos  which  the  architect  had 
intended  to  place  here,  beginning  over  the  western  door  'and  progressing  to  the  right 
(north)  and  so  on  around,  marches  through  the  cardinal  scenes  in  American  progress. 
Brumidi  had  completed  less  than  half  of  the  circle  when  he  died,  in  1880.  The  work 
was  then  continued  by  his  Italian  assistant,  Costagini,  but  is  not  yet  completed.  The 
estimated  expense  of  so  decorating  this  frieze  was  $10,000  —  the  favorite  congressional 
figure  for  art  pieces  —  and  it  has  often  been  spent  to  worse  advantage  than  here. 

On  the  canopy  of  the  dome  is  Brumidi's*  masterpiece,  "The  Apotheosis  of  Wash- 

*  Constantino  Brumidi  was  born  in  Rome  in  1805,  studied  art,  and  became  a  member  of  the  Acad- 
emy at  thirteen.  He  painted  frescoes  in  several  Roman  palaces,  and  worked  in  the  Vatican  for  three 
years  under  Gregory  XVI.  The  tradition  is  that  he  became  involved  in  the  European  revolution  of 
1848,  and  was  thrown  into  prison,  whence  he  was  freed,  on  account  of  his  reputation,  by  the  influence 
of  Pius  IX,  but  was  banished  from  Italy.  At  any  rate,  after  the  French  took  possession  of  Rome  he 
came  to  America,  where  he  remained  until  1854,  and  then  went  to  Mexico  to  do  frescoes.  Returning 
to  Washington,  he  was  employed  to  take  charge  of  the  mural  decorations  of  the  Capitol.  He  began 
with  the  room  of  the  House  Committee  on  Agriculture,  and  these  pictures  are  said  to  have  been  the 
first  frescoes  in  the  United  States.  He  also  did  frescoes  for  St.  Stephen's  Church  in  New  York  and  for 


A   TOUR  OF  THE  CAPITOL. 


DISCOVERY  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI.      Painting  by  Wm.  H.  Powell.      Rotunda. 


SIGNING  THE   DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE.-  Painting  by  John  Trumbull.     Rotund 


Hi?  de^-h' in  P?'  followed  an  injury  received  upon  the  scaffold  while 
^tU,nda-T  ^fs  work  is  stron*  in  drawin^  excellent  in  idea,  and  brilliant  in 


24 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 


ington."  Glasses  will  help  one  to  study  it  from  the  floor,  but  it  should  be  examined 
from  the  gallery  to  be  appreciated.  The  artist  worked  upon  it  several  years,  and  the 
cost  was  nearly  $50,000,  of  which  Brumidi  received  $39,500,  and  an  exceedingly  skillful 
and  beautifying  result  was  obtained. 

The  central  figure  is  Washington,  with  Freedom  and  Victory  at  his  right  and  loft, 

and  around  them  are  female  figures  to  represent  the  original  States  of  the  Union.     The 

border  of  the  canopy  contains  six  groups  of  emblematic  figures,  repiv 

Brumidi's         senting  the  Fall  of  Tyranny,  Agriculture,  Mechanics,  Commerce,  the 

Canopy.  Marine,  and  the  Arts  and  Sciences.     The  painting  is  glowing  with  color, 

and  every  portion  of  it  is  finished  in  a  very  careful  manner. 

The  ascent  of  the  dome  may  be  made  by  a  stairway  ( 376  steps )  opening  from  the 
passage  to  the  Senate  wing,  and  it  is  possible  to  climb  even  to  the  foot  of  the  statue. 
Visitors  are  ordinarily  contented,  however,  to  stop  at  the  great  galleries,  exterior  and 
interior,  which  encircle  the  base  of  the  dome.  The  view  thence  is  an  exceedingly 
wide  and  interesting  one,  but  differs  little  from  that  obtained  from  the  summit  of  tin- 


Washington  Monument,  which 
few  persons,  therefore,  climb 

"The  huge  dome,"  says 
beauty    far    above    the 

crown 
The  Dome,      is    of 

nearly 

sheets  of  iron,  securely 
on  iron  ribs,  and  by 
struction    the    changes 
contraction  and  expan 
folding  and  unfolding  of 
from  designs    of    Thomas 
and  cost  $1,250,000. 
struction,  so  carefully 
ly  protected  from  the 
of  white  paint,  renewed 
last  for  centuries.     Its 


can 


vork 


THE  APOTHEOSIS  OF  WASHINGTON. 
Painting  by  Constantino  Brumidi. 


be  reached   by  an  elevator ; 
these  tedious  stairways. 
Evans,  "rising  in  its  classic 
main  building,  is  a  fitting 
to  the  noble  edifice.     It 
cast  iron    and   weighs 
4,000    tons.      Large 
bolted    together,    rest 
the  plan  used  in  its  con- 
of  temperature  make  its 
sion    merely    'like    the 
the    lily.'     It    was    built 
Walter  of  Philadelphia, 
were  required  in  its  con- 
done, and  as  it  is  thorough- 
weather  by  thick  coats 
yearly,  it  is  likely  to 
base  consists  of  a  peri- 


years 


style  of  thirty-six  fluted  columns  surmounted  by  an  entablature  and  a  balustrade.  Then 
comes  an  attic  story,  and  above  this  the  dome  proper.  At  the  topis  a  gallery,  sur- 
rounded by  a  balustrade,  from  which  may  be  obtained  a  magnificent  view  of  the  city 
and  its  environs.  Rising  from  the  gallery  is  the  'lantern,'  fifteen  feet  in  diameter  and 
fifty  feet  high,  surrounded  by  a  peristyle.  Over  the  lantern  is  a  globe,  and  standing  on 
the  globe  is  the  bronze  statue  of  Liberty,  designed  by  Thomas  Crawford,  and  cast  at 
Bladensburg,  Md.  It  is  nineteen  feet  six  inches  high,  weighs  seven  and  one-half  tons, 
and  cost  more  than  $24,000.  It  was  placed  in  position  December  2,  1863,  amid  the 
salutes  from  guns  in  Washington  and  the  surrounding  forts,  and  the  cheers  of  the  thou- 
sands of  soldiers." 

This  statue  was  lifted  to  its  position  in  sections,  afterward  bolted  together.     The 
original  plaster  model  is  in  the  National  Museum. 

Statues  now  adorn  the  rotunda,  as  follows  :  Vinnie  Ream  Hoxie's  much- 
Kotunda  discussed  statue  of  Lincoln,  for  which  Congress  paid  $15,000  in  1870, 

Statues.  after  a  long  debate,  in  which  Senator  Sumner  made  an  illuminating  speech 

on  the  application  of  art  to  the  Capitol.  The  statue  of  Alexander  Ham- 
ilton ( 1756-1804)  is  by  Stone,  is  dated  1868,  and  cost  $10,000.  Another  statue  by  Stone 
is  that  of  the  Oregon  Senator  and  Union  soldier,  Col.  Edward  D.  Baker,  who  was 


A   TOUR   OF  THE   CAPITOL.  25 

killed  at  Ball's  Bluff  in  1861.  The  statue  of  Jefferson  here  has  the  following  history, 
according  to  Ben:  Perley  Poore  :  "A  spirited  bronze  statue  of  Jefferson  by  his  admirer, 
the  French  sculptor.  David  d'Angers,  was  presented  to  Congress  by  Lieut.  Uriah  P. 
Levy,  but  Congress  declined  to  accept  it.  and  denied  it  a  position  in  the  Capitol.  It  was 
then  reverentially  taken  in  charge  by  two  naturalized  citizens,  stanch  Democrats, 
and  placed  on  a  small  pedestal  in  front  of  the  White  House.  One  of  these  worshipers  of 
Jefferson  was  the  public  gardener,  Jimmy  Maher  ;  the  other  was  John  Foy,  keeper  of 
the  restaurant  in  the  basement  of  the  Capitol,  and  famous  for  his  witty  sayings."  The 
fifth  is  a  statue  of  Gen.  U.  S.  Grant  by  Franklin  Simmons,  the  gift  of  the  Grand  Army 
to  the  United  States. 

The  eastern  door  of  the  rotunda  opens  upon  the  grand  portico- of  the 'eastern  front. 
The  carvings  above  it  have  been  described. 

The  western  door  leads  to  a  rear  stairway  descending  a  narrow  hall  to  the  rear 
entrance  of  the  Capitol  and  Pennsylvania  Avenue:  also  to  a  balcony  which  gives  an 
exceedingly  interesting  view  toward  the  river,  the  Treasury,  and  northwestward. 

The  northern  door  leads  to  the  Supreme  Court  and  onward  to  the  Senate  Chamber. 

The  southern  door  admits  to  Statuary  Hall  and  the  House  of  Representatives,  in  the 
southern  extension,  to  which  attention  may  now  be  directed,  as  the  first  step  in  a  general 
survey  of  the  ( 'apitol. 

Passing  through  the  southern  d<><>r  and  a  circular  vestibule,  we  emerge  into  a  semi- 
circular hall  ninety-five  feet  in  greatest  width,  who^e  ceiling  is  a  half-dome  sixty  feet 
high,  beneath  which  is  a  spacious  gallery  tilled  with  the  Library  of  the 
House  of  Representatives.     This  was  the  Hall  of  Representatives «of  the  Original 

original  Capitol,  and  as  tirst  built  it  was  an  oblong  rectangular  room.     In  Hall  Of 

rebuilding  it,  after  the  tire  of  1*11.  Latrobe  converted  it  into  a  semicir-  ReprCSCnta- 
cular  room,  taking  as  his  model,  tradition  sayg,  an  ancient  theater  in  tives. 

(1  recce;  and  doubtless  i'  was  an  extremely  beautiful  apartment  when 
fre-h  in  color,  lighted  at  night,  and  filled  with  a  brilliant  assemblage.  At  the  southern 
end  is  a  grand  arch,  supported  by  columns  of  Potomac  variegated  marble  (breccia), 
with  white  Italian  capitals  copied  from  relics  in  the  ruins  of  Athens.  Many  other  simi- 
lar pillars  form  a  colonnade  about  the  room  and  sustain  the  profusely  paneled  ceiling. 
The  cupola,  which  admits  such  poor  light  as  the  room  now  gets,  was  the  work  of  a 
young  Italian  artist  named  IJonani.  who  died  soon  after,  and  who  took  his  design  from 
the  Roman  Pantheon.  The  arch  is  adorned  with  an  eagle  sculptured  from  life  by  Val- 
perti,  another  Italian  of  high  reputation,  while  a  dignified  model  for  a  statue  of  Liberty, 
wrought  in  plaster  by  Causici  in  1829,  stand>  beneath  the  arch  over  the  former  position 
of  the  Speaker's  desk.  Opposite  it,  above  the  entrance  door,  remains  the 
famous  old  marble  clock.  It  is  a  notable  object,  and  was  executed  in  this  FranzOfli's 
city  by  ('.  Kian/.oni,  an  Italian  sculptor,  who  died  May  12,  1819,  but  the  Clock. 

design  is  said  to  have  been  drawn  by  Latrobe.     The  theme  is  the  Flight 
of  Time.     The  Genius  of  History  is  represented  as  standing  gracefully  upon  the  winged 
chariot  of  Progress,  which  is  rolling  over  a  globe  belted  with  the  signs  of  the  Zodiac. 
History  records  the  incidents  of  national  life  as  Time  overtakes  them,  and  the  wheel  of 
her  swift  chariot  forms  the  dial  of  the  clock,  which  is  marked  with  gilded  figures. 

•The  House  of  Representatives  used  this  hall  from  1808  until  1814,  and  then  from 
1817  to  the  end  of  1857.  "  Here  Clay.  Webster,  the  younger  Adams,  Calhoun,  Randolph, 
Cass,  Burges,  Wise,  Forsyth,  Corwin,  Wright,  and  many  others  won  reputation  for 
-tatomanship,  and  made  the  walls  ring  with  their  fiery  eloquence.  Here  were  many 
fierce  and  bitter  wrangles  over  vexed  questions—  turbulent  scenes,  displays  of  sectional 
feeling;  and  here  also  was  much  legislative  action  which  has  gone  into  history  as  wise 
and  beneficial.  .  .  The  old  hall  appeared  as  follows  in  the  latter  years  of  its  use  by 


26 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 


the  House:  The  Speaker's  chair  and  table  stood  on  a  rostrum  four  feet  from  the  floor, 
and  back  of  the  rostrum  were  crimson  curtains,  hanging  in  folds  from  the  capitals  of 
the  ponderous  marble  columns  which  supported  the  great  arch  of  the  hall.  The  clerk's 
desk  stood  below  the  rostrum,  and  between  the  columns  were  sofas  and  tables  for  the 
reporters.  The  Representatives  were  provided  with  mahogany  desks  and  wide  arm- 
chairs, which  were  arranged  in  concentric  circles.  The  hall  could  accommodate  250 
members.  A  bronzed  iron  railing  with  curtains  enclosed  the  outer  row  of  desks,  and 
this  constituted  the  bar  of  the  House.  Beyond  the  railing  was  the  members'  lobby,  and 
above  the  lobby  were  galleries  seating  about  500  persons.  One  of  the  galleries  was 
reserved  for  ladies,  and  in  two  of  its  panels  were  paintings  of  Washington  and  Lafayette, 
which  now  hang  in  the  present  hall  of  the  House.  Under  the  paintings  were  large 
copies  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  in  frames 
ornamented  with  national 
emblems.  The  hall  was 
lighted  by  a  chandelier, 
which  hung  from  the  cen- 
ter of  the  domed  ceiling." 
It  was  in  this  hall  that 
ex-President  John  Quincy 
Adams,  then  a  Representa- 
tive for  Massachusetts,  was 
prostrated  at  his  de^k,  on 
February  21,  1848,  by 
paralysis,  resulting  in  his 

death    two 

Death  Of          days    later. 
Adams.  A    star    set 

in  the  floor  STATUARY  HALL.— OLD  HALL  OF  REPRESENTATIVES. 

marks  the  position  of  his  desk.  The  gallery  is  now  filled  with  the  overflow  of  the  House 
library  from  the  neighboring  upper  corridor,  and  the  corners  beneath,  extending  back 
to  the  rotunda  wall,  are  occupied  by  the  keeper  of  the  House  documents,  and  by  the 
Committee  on  Enrolled  Bills  and  its  clerks.  An  inner  office  behind  the  latter  is 
that  of  the  clerk  of  the  House,  and  is  the  room,  then  assigned  to  the  Speaker,  in  which 
Adams  died. 

The  present  use  of  this  room  as  a  hall  of  memorial  statuary  is  due  to  a  suggestion 
from  the  late  Senator  Justin  S.  Merrill,  when  he  was  a  Representative  from  Vermont, 
which  resulted  in  an  invitation  by  Congress,  in  1864,  to  each  State  to  send  marble  or 
bronze  statues  of  two  of  her  most  illustrious  sons  for  permanent  preservation. 

As  a  beginning  certain  statues  and  busts  owned  by  the  Federal  Government  were 
collected  here.     They  include  Hubbard's  plaster  copy  of  Houdon's  statue  of  Washing- 
ton, the  face  of  which  was  modeled  from  a  plaster  cast  taken  by  Houdon* 
Statuary  himself  at  Mount  Vernon  in  1785,  and  Mrs.  Fisher  Ames'  bust  of  Lincoln, 

Hall.  upon  a  pedestal  of  Aberdeen  granite  (a  gift),  for  which  $2,000  was  paid. 

Here   also  will  be  found  a  marble  bust  of    Senator  J.  J.  Crittenden 
of    Kentucky,   author    of    the    ' '  Crittenden    Compromise "   measure    and    Harrison's 


*Jean  Antoine  Houdon,  who  was  a  cultivated  French  sculptor  (1741-1828),  educated  in  Paris  and 
Rome,  was  employed  by  the  State  of  Virginia  to  make  a  statue  of  Washington.  He  came  and  studied 
his  subject,  resided  for  several  weeks  with  the  family  at  Mount  Vernou,  cast  Washington's  face,  and 
then  made  in  Italy  the  original  statue,  now  in  the  capitol  at  Richmond.  It  is  the  most  faithful  portrait 
in  existence  of  the  Father  of  His  Country  in  his  later  years.  This  plaster  copy  cost  $2,000. 


A   TOUR   OF   THE   CAPITOL.  27 

Attorney-General,  by  Joel  T.  Hart;  and  a  portrait  of  Joshua  R.  Giddings,  by  Miss 
C.  L.  Ransom. 

A  few  States  have  sent  the  effigies  called  for,  and  they  stand  in  the  dim  light  as  if 
petrified  with  surprise  at  the  miscellaneous  company  of  greatness  in  which  they  find 
themselves,  and  the  tedium  of  waiting  to  be  let  out.  Some  are  of  high  merit,  but  many 
are  not,  and  none  can  be  fairly  estimated  or  enjoyed  when  set  up  in  this  gloomy  and 
echoing  hall,  like  a  lot  of  gravestones  exposed  for  sale  in  a  dealer's  warerooms.  Follow- 
ing is  a  catalogue  of  these  State  statues  : 

California:  Gen.  James  Shields,  by  Leonard  W.  Volk. 

Connecticut:  Gov.  Jonathan  Trumbull  (the  original  "  Brother  Jonathan,"  1710-1785) 
and  Koiivr  Sin  nnan.  one  of  the  Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  (1721-1793), 
both  the  work  of  C.  B.  Ives.  and  placed  here  in  1872. 

Iiulimm:  Oliver  P.  Morton,  Governor  of  that  State  during  the  Civil  War. 

Maim:  Gov.  William  King  ( 17«»s-is.VJ).  by  Franklin  \\ .  Simmons,  1877. 

M<ixxiti'linxittx:  Gov.  John  Winthrop  (1588-1649)  by  Richard  S.  Greenough  (a  brother 
of  Horatio  Grenough),  dated   is;r»;  and  Samuel  Adams  (1722-1803),  by 
Anne  Whitney,  1876.  State 

Mi'-lii'jiin:    Lewis  Cass  (1782-1866),  Senator  and  Secretary  of  State,  Statues. 

by  Daniel  Chester  French,  dated  1887. 

Mteouri:  Sen.  Frank  1'.  Blair  (1821-1870);  and  Sen.  Thomas  H.  Benton  (1782-1858). 

New  llamiixln're:  Gen.  John  Stark  (1728-1822);  Daniel  Webster  (1782-1852).  Both  by 
Carl  Conrad,  after  the  statues  in  Concord.  N.  II. 

New  Jersey:  Richard  Stockton  (1780-1781),  one  of  the  Signers,  in  marble;  and  Gen. 
Philip  Kearney  ( lsir>-lsr>'J)  in  bron/e.  Both  are  from  models  by  H.  K.  Brown. 

X.ir  ]',/•/•:  Vire-President  George  Clinton  (1739-1812),  by  H.  K.  Brown,  and  cast  by 
Wood  in  Philadelphia  in  1873;  Chancellor  Robert  Livingston  (1747-1813),  by  E.  D.  Pal- 
mer, east  in  Paris  in  1874. 

Ohio:  President  -lames  A.  Garlield  (1831-1881)  and  Senator  and  Governor  William 
Allen.  Both  are  by  Charles  11.  Niehaus. 

7V////X////V/ /,/,/.-  Robert  Fulton  (1765-1815),  who  was  born  in  this  State,  but  made  his 
eaiver  elsewhere,  by  Howard  Roberts;  and  Gen  John  P.  G.  Muhlenberg  (1746-1807),  by 
Helen  Blanche  Xevin. 

Rhode  Ixl«,«l:  (Jen.  Xathanael  Greene  (1742-1786),  by  H.  K.  Brown,  dated  1869;  and 
Roger  Williams  (1<;<MM»)S:>>).  by  Franklin  Simmons,  1870. 

V>  rum nt:  Col.  Ethan  Allen  (1737-1789),  a  colossal  marble  figure,  dated  1875,  by  Larkin 
(J.  Mead  of  that  State;  and  Senator  Jacob  Collamer  (1791-1865),  Taylor's  Postmaster- 
General,  by  Hiram  Powers. 

H",*/  Virginia:  Senator  .John  M.  Kenna,  by  Alexander  Doyle. 

H ' ,'x,;>ut((ii  :  Father  James  Marquette,  missionary-explorer  (1637-1675),  by 
Trentanove. 

Statuary  Hall  has  surprising  acoustic  properties,  which  the  Capitol  guides  have  learned, 
and  apply  to  the  amusement  of  sightseers  and  their  own  profit.     Curious  echoes,  whisp- 
ers distinct  at  a  distance,  and  ability  to  hear  what  is  inaudible  to  a  person 
at  your  elbow,  are  among  the  curiosities  of  sound  observable  at  certain  Acoustic 

points.  One  experiment  easily  tried  is  for  two  persons  to  place  their  faces  Curiosities, 
close  in  the  corners  of  the  room  beside  the  pillars  of  the  arch  ;  they  may 
speak  in  a  low  tone  and  be  heard  distinctly,  each  by  the  other.  The  Capitol  guides,  it 
may  lie  remarked,  include  some  very  well  informed  men,  who  can  make  themselves  of 
great  use  to  a  stranger  in  this  immense  and  storied  building;  and  it  is  the  only  place  in 
the  city  where  a  professional  guide  is  of  any  use  whatever.  The  Capitol  guides  are  per- 
mitted to  charge  50  cents  an  hour,  but  are  often  cheerfully  paid  much  more. 


28  PICTORIAL   GUIDE   TO   WASHINGTON. 

Leaving  Statuary  Hall  by  the  door  under  the  arch,  you  quit  the  limits  of  the  old 
Capitol,  and  traverse  the  corridor  to  the  southern  or  House  wing.     The  principal  doors 

of  the  House  confront  you  as  you  reach  the  lobby,  each  guarded,  if  ( '011- 
Housc  of          gress  is  in  session,  by  doorkeepers,  whose  business  it  is  to  see  that  none 
Representa-    enter  who  have  not  "the  rights  of  the  floor." 
tives.  The  Hall  of  Representatives  (occupied  since  December  16,  1857)  is  an 

oblong  room  139  feet  long  by  93  wide  and  36  high,  the  "floor"  being  115 
by  67  feet.  The  ceiling  is  a  framework  of  iron,  bronzed  and  gilded,  inlaid  with  glass. 
upon  which  the  coats-of-arms  of  the  States  are  painted,  mellowing  rather  than  obscuring 
the  abundant  light.  The  Speaker's  raised  desk  is  against  the  southern  wall,  and  below 
him  are  the  marble  desks  of  the  clerks  and  official  reporters,  the  latter  keeping  a  steno- 
graphic record  of  everything  done  or  said,  to  be  published  in  The  Congressional  Record 
next  morning.  The  assistant  doorkeeper  sits  at  the  Speaker's  left,  and  the  sergeant-at- 
arms  within  easy  call.  This  latter  officer  is  the  Speaker's  policeman  —  the  representative 
of  the  physical  force  which  backs  up  the  civil  rule;  and  his  symbol  of  authority  is  the 
mace,  which  reposes  on  a  marble  pedestal  at  the  right  of  the  Speaker. 

"The  mace  was  adopted  by  the  House  in  the  First  Congress,  and  has  been  in  use  ever 
since.     When  it  is  placed  on  its  pedestal,  it  signifies  that  the  House  is  in  session  and 

under  the  Speaker's  authority;  when  it  is  placed  on  the  floor,  that  the 
Mace*  House  is  in  committee  of  the  whole.  The  mace  is  a  bundle  of  black  rods 

fastened  with  transverse  bands  of  silver,  like  the  Roman  fauces.  On  its 
top  is  a  silver  globe  surmounted  by  a  silver  eagle.  When  the  sergeant-at-arms  is  execut- 
ing the  commands  of  the  Speaker,  he  is  required  to  bear  aloft  the  mace  in  his  hands." 

Grouped  in  concentric  semicircles  are  the  desks  of  the  Representatives,  all  small,  uni- 
form, and  handsome,  those  of  the  Republican  party  on  the  Speaker's  left  and  those  of  the 
Democratic  party  on  the  right.  When  a  division  of  the  House  takes  place,  all  come  down 
the  side  aisles  into  the  space  in  front  of  the  clerk's  desk  and  pass  out  up  the  central  aisle 
between  counting-tellers.  Over  the  Speaker's  head  is  the  press  gallery,  and  doors  lead 
to  the  lobby  and  retiring-rooms  in  the  rear.  Beneath  the  galleries,  in  rear  of  the  Repre- 
sentatives' desks,  are  "cloakrooms"  —  small  apartments  where  the  Members  not  only 
hang  up  their  hats  and  overcoats,  but  smoke  and  talk  beyond  the  hubbub  of  the  House. 
The  galleries  (reached  from  the  next  floor)  are  divided  into  sections,  some  of  which 
are  devoted  to  ladies  and  others  reserved  for  diplomats,  friends  of  Congressmen,  etc. 

The  doorkeepers  will  give  anyone  who  asks  for  it  a  plan  of  the  House 
HOUSC  showing  where  the  Representatives  are  seated.  Twelve  hundred  persons 

Galleries.         may  be  crowded  into  these  galleries. 

The  Hall  of  Representatives  is  a"  business-like  room  —  elegant  but  not 
over-ornamented.  It  is  carpeted  and  draped  in  warm  colors,  but  the  prevailing  tone  of 
the  decoration  is  white  and  gold.  At  the  right  of  the  chair  hangs  a  full-length  portrait 
of  Washington  as  President,  by  Vanderlyn,  ordered  by  Congress  in  1832,  to  signali/e 
the  hundredth  anniversary  of  Washington's  birth,  and  delivered  in  1834,  at  the  price  of 

$2,500.  On  the  left  is  Ary  Scheffer's  portrait  of  Lafayette,  painted  in 
Paintings.  1822,  and  presented  to  Congress  by  that  artist  in  1824.  The  panel  at  the 

right  of  the  "Washington"  is  taken  by  Bierstadt's painting  of  the  "Settle- 
ment of  California,"  while  occupying  the  corresponding  panel  on  the  west,  adjoining 
the  "Lafayette,"  is  the  "Discovery  of  the  Hudson  "  by  the  same  artist,  who  was  paid 
$10,000  for  each.  Adjoining  the  last  named  is  a  fresco  by  Brumidi,  representing  Wa-h- 
ington  treating  with  Cornwallis  for  the  surrender  of  his  army  at  Yorktown  — a  gift  to 
Congress  from  this  painter. 

Corridors  surround  the  House,  paved  with  Minton  tiles,  wainscoted  with  marble, 
and  having  decorated  ceilings  and  other  adornments.     Turning  to  the  right  (west)  at 


A  TOUR   OF  THE  CAPITOL.  29 

the  entrance,  you  find,  just  beyond  the  corner,  the  Western  Grand  Staircase,  leading  to 
the  attic  story  or  gallery  floor. 

This  staircase  is  double,  with  massive  balustrades  of  polished  Tennessee  marble, 
and  is  lighted    from    the  roof   through    stained    glass.     At  the  foot  is  a  bronze  bust 
of  a  Chippewa  Chief.   Bee-she-kee  or  The  Buffalo,  modeled  from  life  in 
1855  by  Vincenti.     The  opposite  wall  is  largely  covered  by  the  fresco  by  Western 

Leut/e,  representing  western  emigration  under  the  title  "Westward,  Ho  !"  Grand 

The  action  in   the -figures  is  the  best  part  of  the  composition,  for  which         Staircase. 
120,000  was  paid.     Strips  of  wall  beside  the  picture  are  highly  decorated. 
That  on  the  right  contains  a  portrait  of  Daniel  Boone,  as  a  typical  explorer,  and  the 


THE  HALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES. 

motto:  "The  spirit  grows  with  its  allotted  spaces;  the  mind  is  narrowed  in  a  nar- 
row sphere."  That  on  the  left  has  a  portrait  of  Col.  William  Clark,  to  whose  energetic 
action  the  United  States  mainly  owes  its  early  possession  of  the  Ohio  Valley,  with  a 
familiar  misquotation  from  Jonathan  M.  Sewall,  which  should  read  : 

No  pent-up  Utica  contracts  your  powers. 
But  the  whole  boundless  continent  is  yours. 

Beneath  Leutxe's  fresco  is  a  similarly  treated  sketch  by  Bierstadt,  of  the  Golden  Gate, 
or  entrance  to  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco,  California. 

The   rooms  beyond  the  stairca-c  are  offices  of  the  clerks  of  the  House,  and  the  fourth 
(in  the  corner)  is  the  Speaker's  room.     An  elevator  is  near  here. 

Turning   down  the  corridor,  across  the  southern  end  of  the  wing  and   in  rear  of 
the  hall,  the  handsome  retiring-rooms  of  the  Representatives  are  passed; 
and   at   the   end,    opposite   the   basement  stairs,   is   the   House   Lobby.  Bronze 

This  basement  stairway  is  one  of  the  four  beautiful,  bronze-railed       Stairways. 
private  stairs  leading  down  to  committee-rooms,  etc.,  on  the  floor  below, 
which  are  found  at  opposite  corners  of  the  halls  of  both  the  Senate  and  the  House. 


30  PICTORIAL   GUIDE   TO   WASHINGTON. 

Their  balustrades  are  exquisite  works  of  art  in  metal,  were  cast  in  Philadelphia  after 
designs  by  Baudin,  and  cost  something  over  $500  each.  It  is  worth  an  effort  to 
see  them. 

The  House  Lobby  is  richly  furnished,  and  contains  many  portraits  —  most  of  which 
are  crayon-drawings  —  of  the  Speakers  of  the  past,  who  find  themselves  in  a  sort  of 
legal  obscurity  delightfully  suitable  to  the  mysterious  bargains  and  vague  "understand- 
ings "  associated  with  this  apartment,  where  Congressmen  confer  with  those  whom  they 
choose  to  admit.  This  and  the  adjoining  apartments  are  not  open  to  public  inspection 
after  noon  when  Congress  is  in  session. 

Passing  another  bronze-railed  stairway  and  turning  to  the  left,  three  committee-rooms 
of  great  interest  are  passed  on  the  eastern  front  of  this  wing.  In  the  corner  is  that  of 
the  Committee  on  Appropriations  ;  next  comes  that  of  Ways  and  Means,  which  is  richly 
frescoed  ;  and  in  the  farther  (northeastern)  corner  is  that  of  Military  Affairs,  hung  with 
a  notable  collection  of  paintings  of  the  principal  forts  of  the  United  States,  gathered 
by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Eastman,  U.  S.  A.  From  this  corridor  the 
Eastern  Eastern  Grand  Staircase,  similar  to  the  western,  ascends  to  the  gallery 

Grand  floor.     At  its  foot  is  Powers'  statue  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  which  cost  f  10,- 

Stairway.         000,  but  is  difficult  to  see.     Over    the  landing  hangs  Frank  B.  Carpen- 
ter's painting  of   the  "Signing  of  the  Proclamation  of  Emancipation," 
by  President  Lincoln,  in  the  presence  of  his  Cabinet,  September  22,  1862,  presented  to 
Congress  in  1878  by  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Thompson,  who,  it  is  said,  paid  $25,000  for  the  pic- 
ture.    Beginning  at  the  left  the  portraits  are  :    Edwin  M.  Stan  ton,  Secretary  of  War  ; 
Salmon  P.    Chase,   Secretary  of  the  Treasury;  Abraham   Lincoln,    President;  Gideon 
Welles,  Secretary  of  the  Navy;  William  H.  Seward  (seated),  Secretary  of  State;  Caleb  B. 
Smith,  Secretary  of  the  Interior;  Montgomery  Blair,  Postmaster-General;  Edward  Bates, 
Attorney-General.     Mr.  Carpenter  was  for  a  considerable  time  an  inmate  of  Lincoln's 
family  at  the  White  House,  and  has  written  many  interesting  reminiscences  of  that  time. 
Ascending  to  the  attic  floor  we  may  again  make  the  circuit  of  this  wing  through  cor- 
ridors whose  inner  doors  open  into  the  galleries  of  the  House.     At  the  top  of  the  staircase 
hangs  a  full-length  portrait  of  Henry  Clay,  painted  by  Neagle  in  1843  for 
Portraits.          the  family,   and  regarded  by  Mr.  Clay  as  the  best  portrait  made  of  him. 
It  is  flanked  on  one  side  by  a  portrait  of  Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton,  the 
last  survivor  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  painted  by  Chester  Har- 
ding, a  con  temporary  and  rival  of  Gilbert  Stuart,  and  on  the  other  side  by  a  portrait 
of  Gunning  Bedford,  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress  from  Delaware,  painted  by 
Gilbert  Stuart  and  presented  by  his  family. 

Turning  the  corner  toward   the  left  we  walk  along  the  corridor  in  the  rear  of  the 
House  galleries,  the  distribution  of  which  is  indicated  by  labels  over  the  doors.     The 
most  conspicuous  compartment  is  that  devoted  to  the  press,  which  has  a  broad  space  over 
the  Speaker's  head  and  facing  the  House;  it  is  fitted  with  desks,  and  gov- 
House  erned  by  stringent  rules  made  by  a  committee  of  correspondents.     More 

Galleries.  than  half  of  the  gallery,  with  seats  for  some  500  persons,  is  open  to  the 
public,  which  may  come  and  go  at  will;  portions  of  this  are  nominally 
reserved  for  ladies;  but  gentlemen  with  them  may  also  enter.  A  private  room  for  ladies. 
with  a  woman  attendant,  will  be  found  in  the  south  front.  Certain  rooms  on  this  floor 
are  devoted  to  House  committees  and  other  official  purposes,  and  the  second  story  of 
the  corridor  connecting  this  gallery  with  that  of  Statuary  Hall  is  filled  with  the  House's 
file  of  public  documents,  bound  uniformly  in  sheepskin,  and  now  numbering  nearly 
150.000  volumes.  The  early  records  of  Congress  are  very  valuable.  The  only  picture 
here  is  that  of  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  which  hangs  opposite  the  head  of  the  western 
staircase,  and  is  an  excellent  full-length  painted  by  R.  N.  Brooke  in  1880. 


A   TOUR  OF  THE  CAPITOL.  31 

The  basement  of  the  House,  to  which  an  elevator  makes  a  convenient  descent,  con- 
tains the  House  post  office  (southeast  corner);  committee  and  clerks' 
rooms,  of  which  several  are  elaborately  frescoed  ;  a  public  restaurant  (at  House 

the  foot  of  the  eastern  staircase);  elaborate  bathrooms  for  Representa-        Basement. 
lives,  and  public  lavatories  for  men  (at  the  foot  of  the  western  stairway). 

The  room  of  the  Committee  on  Agriculture  was  decorated  by  Brumidi,  as  his  intro- 
ductory work,  with  what  some  critics  have  pronounced  the  best  frescoes  in  the  building. 
They  represent  Cincinnatus  called  from  his  fields  to  be  dictator,  and  Putnam  going 
from  his  plow  to  be  a  general  in  the  Continental  army.  There  are  also  sketches  con- 
trasting harvests  in  ancient  and  modern  times,  and  medallions  of  Washington  and 
.IciVerson.  Figures  of  Flora  (spring),  Ceres  (summer),  Bacchus  (autumn),  and  Boreas 
(winter)  accent  the  decoration  of  the  ceiling.  The  Committee  on  Indian  Affairs  has  the 
benefit  of  wall  paintings  of  Indian  scenes  executed  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Eastman, 
I'.  S.  A.,  whose  collection  of  pictures  of  forts,  largely  painted  by  himself,  is  preserved 
in  the  room  of  the  House  Committee  on  Military  Affairs. 

The  Mib-basement  beneath  this  part  of  the  building  contains  the  elaborate  machinery 
for  heating  and  ventilating  the  Hall  of  Representatives  and  this  wing  generally.     Fresh 
air  is  drawn  in  from  a  remote  part  of  the  grounds,  and  its  temperature, 
degree  of  dryness.  etc.,  are  regulated  by  ingenious  machinery,  which  is  Slib- 

open  to  inspection  by  visitors  who  wish  to  descend  to  the  engine-room.          basement. 
A  similar  apparatus  is  in  the  Senate  sub-basement  for  the  service  of  the 
north  wing.     The  central  part  of  the  sub-basement  is  a  labyrinth  of  dark  archways  used 
for  storage,  when  used  at  all. 

A  basement  corridor  extends  from  end  to  end  of  the  Capitol  on  this  ground  floor,  and 
furnishes  a  convenient  means  of  reaching  the  Senate  wing  without  retracing  one's  steps. 
The  white  marble  pillars  will  at  once  attract  the  eye.  The  connoisseur  will  remark  that 
though  of  Corinthian  mold,  their  floriated  capitals  represent  leaves  of  American  plants, 
especially  tobacco.  This  was  a  pretty  notion  of  Benj.  H.  Latrobe,  and  a  still  finer  exam- 
ple exists  in  the  Senate  vestibule.  Half  way  down  this  corridor  through  the  basement 
(which  really  is  the  ground  floor,  numerous  doors  opening  directly  upon 
the  pla/a  and  terrace),  we  come  to  the  crypt,  an  apartment  formed  of  Crypt. 

the  spaces  between  the  forty  Doric  columns   that  support   the  massive 
brick  arches  upon  which  is  laid  the  floor  of  the  rotunda;  a  star  in  the  pavement  marks 


WESTWARD,  HO!— WESTWARD  THE  COURSE  OF  EMPIRE  TAKES  ITS  WAY.- Painting  by  Emanuel  Leutze. 


32  PFOTOKIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 

the  center  of  the  building  immediately  beneath  the  dome.  A  large  part  of  the  crypt, 
has  been  walled  off  for  storage  of  documents.  A  passage  to  the  left  lends  out  to  t In- 
western  entrance  and  upstairs  into  the  rotunda;  and  another  leads  to  the  basement  doors 
under  the  grand  portico  of  the  eastern  front. 

The  Undercroft  is  the  name  applied  to  the  vault  beneath  the  crypt,  intended  bv  the 

founders  of  the  Republic  as  the  mausoleum  of  Washington  and  his 
Undercroft.  family  ;  but  these  good  people  preferred  to  be  buried  at  Mount  Vernon. 

and  the  undercroft  remains  empty. 

Passing  onward,  a  few  steps  take  one  past  the  light-shaft  to  the  door  (on  the  right)  of 
the  old  Supreme  Court  Chamber,  immediately  under  the  present  chamber.  It  was  in 
this  room,  now  tilled  with  the  exceedingly  valuable  law  library  of  the  court,  that  all  the 
great  cases  were  heard  previous  to  1857.  It  was  injured  by  fire  in  1898.  A  few  steps 

farther  carry  one  out  of  the  old  main  building  and  into  the  basement  of 
Senate  the  Senate  wing.  Here  there  is  a  public  restaurant,  public  lavatories  for 

Basement.         both  men  and  women,  and  many  offices  and  committee-rooms.     All  the 

corridors  and  vestibules  at  this  end  are  well  lighted,  and  the  walls  and 
ceilings  are  very  profusely  and  elaborately  decorated  with  mural  designs  in  the  Italian 
manner,  daintily  drawn  and  brightly  colored.  Among  them  are  many  portraits  of  early 
American  men  of  note,  in  medallions,  and  a  long  series  of  charming  drawings  in  colors 
of  North  American  birds,  small  mammals,  and  flowers.  The  vestibule  of  the  Senate 
post  office,  in  the  northwest  corner,  is  particularly  picturesque,  having  over  the  po-t 
office  door  a  large  painting  of  Fulton,  pointing,  as  if  from  a  balcony,  to  his  first  steam- 
boat, the  Claremont,  passing  the  Palisades  of  the  Hudson.  The  door  of  the  Committee 
on  Post  Office  Affairs  is  suitably  indicated  by  a  sprightly  picture  of  Franklin,  who 
organized  the  American  Post  Office  ;  while  over  the  opposite  door  is  a  likeness  of  Fitch, 
Fulton's  competitor  in  developing  the  idea  of  steam  navigation. 

Other  especially  fine  frescoes  are  to  be  seen  in  the  rooms  of  the  Senate  committees  on 
Indian  Affairs,  Naval  Affairs,  Military  Affairs  (where  Revolutionary  battles  are  pictured 

in  glorious  colors),  and  Foreign  Affairs  ;  the  doors  of  the  latter  and  of  the 
Frescoes  in  Committee  on  Patents  are  further  distinguished  by  frescoes  by  Brumidi 
Committee  above  the  lintels— in  the  former  case  "The  Signing  of  the  Treaty  of 
Rooms.  Ghent,"  and  in  the  latter  a  full-length  picture  of  Robert  Fulton.  The 

rendering  over  and  over  in  painting  and  carving  of  the  same  subjects  and 
faces  is  one  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  unsystematic  and  ununiform  embellishment  of  the 
Capitol.  The  room  of  the  Senate  Committee  on  Public  Lands  contains  the  painting 
"The  Recall  of  Columbus,"  by  Aug.  G.  Heatou,  which  used  to  hang  in  the  corridor  of 
the  Senate  galleries. 

A  stairway  or  an  elevator  at  either  the  eastern  or  western  end  of  the  main  corridor  will 
take  one  up  to  the  main  story  of  the  Senate  wing.  Here,  as  in  the  southern  wing,  corridors 
extend  completely  around  the  Senate  Chamber,  which  occupies  the  center  of  this  wing. 
The  Senate  Chamber  is  113  feet  long,  80  feet  wide,  and  36  feet  high,  including  the 
galleries,  which  extend  all  around  and  will  accommodate  about  1,000  persons.  The 
space  under  the  galleries  on  the  east,  west,  and  south  sides  is  partitioned  into  cloak- 
rooms for  the  Senators,  while  on  the  north  side  is  the  Senate  lobby.  The  area  of  the 
floor  is  diminished  by  these  rooms  to  84  feet  long  by  51  wide. 

The  flat  ceiling  of  iron  girders  inclosing  broad  panels  of  glass,  painted  with 
Senate  emblems  of  the  Union,  Progress,  the  Army,  the  Navy,  the  Mechanic  Arts. 

Chamber.          etc.,  admits  a  soft  light  day  and  night.     The  marble  walls  are  paneled 

by  pilasters  in  couples,  and  the  doors  are  of  choice  mahogany.  The 
carpet  is  usually  green,  setting  off  well  the  mahogany  desks  of  quaint  pattern,  which, 
with  the  chairs,  are  now  uniform,  and  the  profuse  gilding  about  the  walls  and  ceiling. 


A  TOTJR  OF  THE  CAPITOL.  83 

Each  desk  bears  a  silver  plate  with  the  occupant's  name.  A  Senator  keeps  a  desk 
only  during  a  single  Congress,  drawing  lots  at  the  beginning  of  the  next  for  a  Choice  of 
seats  —  the  Republicans  sitting  at  the  left  and  the  Democrats  at  the  right  of  the  presid- 


THE  SENATE  CHAMBER. 

ing  officer.     Some  desks  are  old  and  historic,  being  the  same  at  which  Senators  distin- 
guished in  the  early  history  of  the  Republic  sat  or  delivered  their  forensic  thunders. 

The  President  of  tin-  Senate  is  the  Vice-President  of  the  United  States.  He  sits 
upon  a  platform  within  an  arched  niche  and  behind  a  broad  desk.  His  chair  is  high 
hacked  and  a  magnificent  piece  of  carved  mahogany,  a  gift  to  Vice-President  Hobart. 
At  his  right  is  the  Serireant-at -Arms,  and  at  his  left  the  Assistant  Doorkeeper.  In  front 
of  him,  a  step  lower  down,  is  the  desk  of  the  Senate  clerks,  and  in  front  of  that,  on  the 
floor  of  the  arena,  the  tables  of  the  official  reporters.  The  press  gallery 
is  behind  the  President,  and  facing  him  are  the  galleries  reserved  for  the  Senate 

Diplomatic  Corps  and  for  Senators'  families.     The  end  galleries  are  open          Galleries. 
to  the  public,  the  eastern  one  being  set  apart  for  women,  who  will  find  a 
convenient  parlor  and  retiring-room,  with  a  woman  attendant,  at  its  northern  extremity. 
A  plan  of  the  Senators'  seats  may  be  obtained  from  the  doorkeepers. 

Busts  of  all  the  Vice-Presidents  are  being  placed  in  niches  in  the  walls,  of  which 
the  following  is  a  roster,  with  the  names  of  the  sculptors  : 

John  Adams  (Daniel  C.  French),  Thomas  Jefferson  (M.  Ezekiel),  Aaron  Burr  (Jacques 
Joavenal),  George  Clinton  (Victor  A.  Crane),  Elbridge  Gerry  (Herbert 
Adams),  Daniel  Tompkins  (C.  H.  Niehaus),  Martin  Van  Buren  (U.  S.  J.  Busts  of 

Dunbar),  George  M.  Dallas  (H.  J.  Ellicott),  Hannibal  Hamlin  (Franklin  YiCC- 

Simmons),  Henry  Wilson  (Daniel  C.  French),  W.  A.  Wheeler  (Edwin       Presidents. 
Potter),  Chester  A.  Arthur  (Aug.  St.  Gaudens),  Thomas  A.  Hendricks 
(U.  8.  J.  Dunbar),  Levi  P.  Morton  (F.  Edwin  Elwell),  Adlai  E.  Stevenson  (Franklin 
Simmons),  John  C.  Calhoun,  and  R.  M.  Johnson. 

3 


34  PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 

Outside  the  Senate  Chamber  many  interesting  things  are  to  be  seen  on  the  main 
floor.  Turning  to  the  right  from  the  main  or  rotunda  entrance  to  the  wing  (and  to  the 
floor  of  the  chamber),  you  find  on  the  end  wall  a  famous  portrait  (head)  of  Washington 
by  Gilbert  Stuart,  which  was  bought  by  Congress  in  1876,  from  ex-Senator  Chestnut 
of  South  Carolina,  for  $1,200.  Opposite  it  is  a  bright  portrait  of  John  Adams,  copi.d 
by  Andrews  from  Gilbert  Stuart.  Passing  through  the  door  between 
Eastern  these  portraits,  and  turning  to  the  left,  you  come  to  the  magnificent  cast 

Staircase.  ern  staircase  of  Tennessee  marble,  illuminated  by  a  rich  skylight  of 
stained  glass.  At  its  foot  stands  Powers'  marble  statue  of  Benjamin 
Franklin,  which  cost  $10,000.  The  wall  of  the  sta:r  landing  bears  Powell's  striking 
painting  (an  enlarged  copy,  for  which  $25,000  was  paid  by  contract  in  1873,  of  an  earlier 
picture,  1863,  made  by  Powell  for  the  State  of  Ohio)  of  Com.  Oliver  P.  Perry  at  the 
battle  of  Lake  Erie,  in  1810,  transferring  himself  and  his  flag  from  his  sinking  flagship 
"  Lawrence  "  to  the  "Niagara,"  in  which  he  won  a  signal  victory. 

This  transfer  was  made  under  fire.  Perry's  younger  brother,  Matthew  (who  after- 
ward opened  Japan  to  the  world),  was  then  a  midshipman,  and  is  depicted  here  as 
entreating  his  brother  and  commander  not  to  expose  himself  so  recklessly.  The  faces 
of  the  sailors  were  drawn  from  once  well-known  employes  about  the  Capitol. 

Just  beyond  the  staircase  is  a  noble  vestibule,  with  coupled  columns,  having  Corin- 
thian capitals,  designed  by  Latrobe,  though  usually  credited  to  Jefferson,  composed 
of  a  most  graceful  arrangement  of  Indian  corn  and  tobacco  leaves  in  place  of  the  con- 
ventional acanthus.  They  are  of  white  marble,  but  the  walls  are  of  scagliola.  A  bust 
of  President  John  Tyler  is  the  only  ornament.  This  vestibule  (where  there  is  an  elevator) 
opens  upon  the  eastern  portico  through  the  Senate  Bronze  Doors  designed  by  Thomas 
Crawford,  cast  by  J.  T.  Ames  at  Chicopee,  Mass.,  and  set  up  here  in  1868. 

These  doors  are  equally  interesting,  and  the  workmanship  is  as  fine  as  is  that  of 
the  Rogers  doors.  The  upper  panel  of  each  valve  (one  of  which  represents  War  and  the 
other  Peace,  as  typified  in  the  figures  in  the  foot-panel  of  each  half)  con- 
CrawfOfd  tains  a  star  surrounded  by  oak  leaves,  and  acts  as  a  ventilator.  There  are 
Bronze  Doors,  six  panels,  constituting  the  body  of  the  door,  in  which  are  represented, 
in  alto-relievo,  events  connected  with  the  Revolution,  the  foundation  of 
our  Government,  and  the  erection  of  the  Capitol,  chronologically  as  follows:  The  battles 
of  Bunker  Hill,  Monmouth,  and  Yorktown;  the  welcome  of  Washington  in  Trenton  on 
his  way  to  New  York  in  1789  (the  same  panel  contains  portraits  of  the  sculptor,  his  wife, 
three  children,  and  of  Rogers,  the  sculptor  of  the  main  door,;  the  inauguration  of  Wash- 
ington in  1789,  and  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  the  Capitol,  September  18,  1793.  The 
prominent  figures  are  all  likenesses.  In  the  inauguration  scene  John  Adams  stands  on 
Washington's  right;  Chancellor  Livingston  administers  the  oath,  and  Mr.  Otis  holds  the 
Bible.  The  remaining  figures  are  Alexander  Hamilton,  Generals  Knox  and  St.  Clair, 
Roger  Sherman,  and  Baron  Steuben.  The  frame  over  the  door  is  supported  by  enriched 
brackets.  The  ornamentation  is  scroll-work  and  acanthus,  with  the  cotton  boll,  stalks 
and  ears  of  corn,  grapes,  and  entwining  vines.  Above  the  door  are  two  sculptured 
figures  in  American  marble  representing  Justice  and  History  by  Crawford,  whose  price 
was  $3,000.  It  will  be  remembered,  also,  that  Crawford  designed  the  figures  that  fill  the 
pediment  of  this  portico.  This  bronze  door  was  his  latest  work;  he  was  paid  $6,000 
for  the  designs,  and  William  H.  Rinehart  was  given  $8,940  for  the  plaster  model,  while 
the  casting  (14, 000  pounds)  cost  $50,500. 

Returning  into  the  vestibule,  it  is  well  to  turn  aside  through  the  first  door,  at  the 
right,  and  see  Brumidi's  excellent  frescoes  in  the  room  of  the  Senate  Committee  on  the 
District  of  Columbia.  This  was  originally  assigned  to  be  the  Senate  post  office,  whence 
*he  artist's  choice  of  History,  Geography,  Physics,  and  the  Telegraph  as  subjects  for  his 


A   TOUR   OF   THE   CAPITOL. 


35 


brush.  The  figures  in  each  design  are  large  and  strikingly  drawn,  and  the  decorative 
accessories  are  most  pleasing. 

This  vestibule  opens  at  its  inner  end  on  the  right  into  the  Senate  Reception-room,  an 
apartment  sixty  feet  long,  but  divided  by  an  arch,  where  Senators  receive  callers  — 
especially  ladies  —  upon  business.     It  is  gaudily  ornate.     The  floor  is  of 
Mintou  tiles,  and  the  walls  are  covered  with  rococo  designs  in  stucco,  in       Rcception- 
high   relief,  and    heavily   gilded.     The   vaulted   ceiling  has  also  many  fOOfll* 

gilded  stucco  ornaments,  and  certain  panels  are  embellished  with  allegor- 
ical frescoes  by  Brumidi    entitled    "Liberty,"    "Plenty,"    "Peace,"  "War,"  "Pru- 
dence," "Justice,"  "  Temperance,"  and  "Strength";  while  an  excellently  drawn  and 
brilliantly  colored  mural  painting,  under  the  arch  on  the  south  wall,  depicts  Washington 
in  conference  with  Jefferson  and  Hamilton  —  one  of  the  best  things  in  the  Capitol. 

Thi-  room  open--  ea>twardly  into  the  office  of  the  sergeant-at-arms,  where  a  very  large 
ceiling  painting  is  visible,  and  westwardly  it  opens  into  the  lobby. 

In  the  Senate  Lobby,  entering  from  the  public  reception-room,  as  above  noted,  the 
first  door  at  the  right  opens  into  the  Vice-President's  Room,  where  Henry  Wilson  died, 
November  22.  is?."),  and  whose  bust  by  Daniel  C.  French  remains  here  as  a  memento. 
The  next  door  admits  to  the  Marble  Room  —  a  large  senatorial  reception 
or  withdrawing  room,   popularly  so  called  because  every  part  of    its  Vice- 

interior  is  formed  of  variegated  and  sculptured  marbles,  all  from  East  President's 
Tennessee  except  the  white  Italian  capitals  and  ceilings.  Here  the  "grave  and  Marble 
and  reverend"  Senators  hold  consultations  at  ease,  or  receive  their  Rooms, 

more  privileged  u-ue»t>.     Lu\uriou<   chairs,  soft   sofas,  warm   rugs,  and 
lace  curtains  abound,   and  the  loom  i>  dazzling  at  night  when  all  the  lights  are  aglow. 
")The  self-ivgiMering  thermometers,  barometers,  wind-indicators,  etc.,  to  be  seen  here, 
furnish  a  branch  station  of  the  I".  S.  Weather  Service  ;  and  the  officer  in  charge  records 
the  phases  of  the  weather  all  over  the  country  upon  the  glass  face  of  a 
map  in  a  most  interesting  way.     The  House  enjoys  a  similar  substation.  Weather 

Next  we>t  of  thi>  >pleiidid  saloon  is  the  President's  room,  another  ornate  Service. 

apartment  where  it  has  been  the  custom  since  Andrew  Johnson's  time 
(except  in  Cleveland's  case)  for  Presidents  to  sit  during  the  last  day  of  a  congressional 

session,  in  order  to  be  ready 
to  sign  bills  requiring  an 
immediate  signature.  This 
room  is  brilliantly  deco- 
rated, including  medallion 
portraits  of 

President  President's 
Washington  Room. 

and  promi- 
nent members  of  his  first 
Cabinet  —  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son, Secretary  of  State ; 
Henry  Knox,  Secretary  of 
War;  Alexander  Hamilton, 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  ; 
Edmund  Randolph,  Attor- 
ney-General, and  Samuel 
Osgood,  Postmaster- 
General.  The  four  corner- 
frescoes  overhead  represent 


'ERRY  AT  THE  BATTLE  OF  LAKE  ERIE. 
Painting  by  Powell.     Eastern  Staircase. 


36 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


Columbus  (Discovery),  Ves- 
pucius  (Exploration), 
Franklin  (History),  and 
William  Brewster  (Reli- 
gion). Between  these  are 
symbolic  figures  of  Liberty, 
Legislation,  Religion,  and 
Executive  Power.  All  this 
work  is  by  the  versatile 
Brumidi,.  and  in  his  best 
vein.  The  tiling  of  this 
and  •  f  the  adjoining  rooms 
is  covered  in  winter  by 
rich  carpeting. 

This    lobby    and     the 
three  rooms  last  named  are 

not  visible  THE  GRAND  CANON  OF  THE  YELLOWSTONE. 

Western  during     seS-  Painting  by  Thomas  Moran. 

Staircase.        sions  of  Congress,  except  by  the  courtesy  of  some  Senator.     The  rooms 
opening  from  the  corridor  west  of  the  Senate  Chamber  belong  to  the 
clerks  and  certain  committees  and  call  for  no  special  remark.     The  visitor  may  there- 
fore pass  on  at  once  to  the  Western  Grand  Staircase  of  white  American  marble  and 

ascend  to  the  gallery  floor. 
Dr.  Horatio  Stone's 
statue  of  John  Hancock 
stands  at  the  foot  of  this 
staircase.  It  was  sculptured 
in  1861,  and  bought  for 
$5,500.  On  the  wall  of  the 
landing  is  the  large  paint- 
ing, by  Walker,  of  the 
"  Stormingof  ( Mirpultepec" 
(captured  by  Scott's  army 
on  September  18,  1847,  dur- 
ing the  Mexican  War),  for 
which  $(5.000  was  paid. 
Roose  says  that  it  was"orig- 
inally  painted  for  a  panel 
in  the  Committee-room  of 
Military  Affairs  of  the  House,  and  doubtless  will  eventually  be  placed  there."  At  the 
head  of  the  stairway  hangs  a  full-length  portrait  of  Washington,  by  Charles  Wilson  Peale, 
painted  in  1779,  the  first  sittings  for  which  were  given  at  Valley  Forge. 

This  west  corridor  admits  one  to  the  gentlemen's  and  to  one  of  the  reserved 
Senate  galleries  of  the  Senate,  and  to  numerous  committee-rooms.     The  rooms 

Galleries.  in  the  northern  front  of  the  wing,  behind  the  press  gallery,  are  not  public. 
Turning  to  the  right  from  the  elevator,  or  from  the  head' of  the  stairs,  let 
us  walk  around  through  the  south  corridor,  whose  doors  admit  to  the  Senate  galleries, 
to  the  head  of  the  eastern 
grand  stairway.  Beyond  the 
stairway  are  two  of  the  most 
interesting  rooms  in  the 
building,  a  hall  looking 
out  upon  the  plaza,  and 
another,  adjoining,  having  a 
delightful  prospect  north- 
ward. These  rooms  not  only 
contain  fine  tiling  and  mural 
decorations,  but  some  nota- 
ble paintings.  In  the  former 
ate  a  portrait  of  John  C. 
Calhoun,  and  Moran's  cele- 
bija,ted  pictures  of  the  canons 
of  the  Colorado  and  of  the 
Yellowstone,  which  were  -THE  CHASM  OF  THE  COLORADO.— Painting  by  Thomas  Moran. 


THE  FIRST  FIGHT  OF  THE  IRONCLADS. 
Painting  by  W.  F.  Halsall.     Lobby  of  Senate  Gallery. 


A   TO  UK    OF   THE  CAPITOL. 


37 


painted  from  actual  studies,  and  sold  to  the  Government  for  $10,000  each.  Those  famil- 
iar with  these  marvelous  regions  of  the  country  know  that  the  coloring  is  by  no  means 
too  vivid,  and  that  the  drawing  is  highly  expressive.  This  room  opens  into  the  gallery 
for  Senators'  families,  the  first  and  second  seats  of  which  are  reserved  for  the  President 
and  Vice-President,  and  their  friends. 

The  adjoining  hall  (from  which  opens  a  ladies'  retiring-room,  with  a  woman  attend- 
ant) has  the  painting  representing  the  encounter  between  the  Monitor  and  Merrimac, 

painted     by 

Halsall,  and  Paintings 
purchased  and 

in  1877  for       Portraits. 

$15,000,  the 

only  exception  to  the  rule 
that  no  reminder  of  the 
Civil  War  shall  be  placed 
in  the  Capitol,  an  exception 
due  to  the  fact  that  this 
was  in  reality  a  drawn 
battle,  where  the  courage 
of  the  contestants  was  con- 
spicuously equal,  and 
where  the  naval  methods 
of  the  world  were  revolu- 
tionized. Its  historical 
interest  is  therefore  world- 
wide. Here  also  are  por- 
traits of  Lincoln  and  Gar- 
tield.  in  Italian  mosaic,  the 
gift  of  Signor  Salviati  of 
Venice,  Italy;  a  portrait 
of  Charles  Sumner,  by  W. 

Infills,     dated     1870;     and 


Painting  by  Mrs.  Cornelia  A.  Fassett.     In  Lobby  of  Senate  Gallery. 


one  of  Gen.  John  A.  I)i\.  by  Imogrnr  Robinson  Monvll,  dated  iss:j.    It  was  John  A.  Dix. 

afterward  a  Major  -<  ieneraf.  Senator,  and  Governor  of  New  York,  who,  when  Secretary  of 


the  Treasury  in  1*<>1.  sent  to  one  of  hi-  special  auvnN  in  Louisiana  the  famous  order  con 

taining  the  'words:     "If  anyone  at  tempN  to  haul  down  the  American  flag  shoot  him  on 

the  spot."  which  so  thrilled  patriotic  hearts.     Here  also  are  several  busts 

of  high  artistic  excellence.  a>  well  as  historic  interest.     These  are  of  Kos-  Busts. 

ciusko.  the   Hungarian    patriot,  by   II.    D.   Saunders;    of  Count   Pulaski, 

Polish   soldier  <>f    the   Revolution,   by   H.   I).    Morhowski  ;    of  Thomas  Crawford,  the 

sculptor,  by  Goirli:irdi.  and  a  marble  head  of  Bee-Shee-Kee.  a  Chippewa  Indian. 

A  small  special  elevator  makes  this  room  directly  accessible  from  the  basement;  and 
descending  by  it.  or  by  the  eastern  irrand  stairway,  to  the  main  floor,  one  walks  to  the 
main  corridor,  where,  upon  the  wall  at  the  western  end.  hang  beautiful  portraits  of 
Thomas  .leiVei-M,  n.  a  copy  from  an  original  by  Thomas  Sully,  and  of  Patrick  Henry,  a 
ropy  by  .Matthews,  from'  an  original  by  Sully,  an  eminent  painter  of  portraits  and  his- 
torical 'pictures.  who  died  in  Boston  iii  187$.  The  portraits  on  the  eastern  wall  have 
already  hern  described.  The  survey  of  the  Senate  wing  has  now  been  finished,  and  the 
Supreme  Court  Chamber  is  next  to  be  inspected.  This  is  reached  by  the  main  passage- 
way leading  from  the  Senate  to  the  rotunda.  Here,  as  soon  as  the  older  part  of  the 
building  is  entered,  one  comes  to  the  door  of  the  Supreme  Court,  guarded  by  an 
attendant  who  will  admit  visitors  upon  all  proper  occasions. 

Beginning  with  the  resort  of  the  populace  in  the  rotunda,  the  visitor  has 
now  inspected  in  succession  the  halls  of  the  lower  and  upper  house  of  Congress, 
and  now  concludes  with  the  tribunal  which  passes  upon  the  validity  of  the  laws  they 
pass.  To  sit  at  the  rear  of  this  old  hall  when  the  court  is  in  session,  as  happens  five 
days  in  the  week,  during  the  greater  part  of  the  year,  is  an  impressive  experience. 

*The  Supreme  Court  of  the  united  States  now  occupies  the  chamber 
in  the  old  Capitol  designed   for  the   Senate,  and  occupied  by  that  body  Supreme 

from  isoo  until  the  completion  of  the  new  wing  in  1859.     Previously  it  Court. 

sat  in  the  hall,  prepared  for  it.  beneath  this  one. 

This  chamber  was  designed  by  Latrobe,  and  its  general  resemblance  to  the  old  Hall 
of  Representatives  (Statuary  Hall)  will  be  noted,  but  it  is  smaller,  measuring  75  by  45 
feet  wide,  and  45  feet  high  to  the  zenith  of  the  low  half-dome.  Beneath  the  wide  arch  of 


38 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 


SUPREME  COURT  CHAMBER. 

the  rear  wall  is  a  row  of  columns  of  variegated  gray  Potomac  marble,  with  white  Ionic  capi- 
tals, in  the  center  of  which  was  placed  the  chair  of  the  President  of  the  Senate,  draped,  as 
now,  by  crimson  curtains  and  surmounted  by  a  hovering  eagle.  On  the  dais  below  him 
were  -the  desks  of  the  clerks,  where  now  stands  the  long  "bench  "  of  the  most  august 
court  in  the  land.  At  the  right  of  the  "  banch"  is  the  clerk  of  the  court,  at  the  left  the 
Marshal ;  and  the  tables  of  the  Attorney-General,  official  reporters,  stenographers,  and 
counsel  legally  admitted  to  practice  here,  occupy  the  semicircular  carpeted  "bar" 
formerly  covered  by  the  desks  of  Senators.  In  the  rear  are  public  seats  ;  but  the  light 
iron  galleries  formerly  built  overhead  have  been  removed,  and  the  walls,  with  their  mar- 
ble pilasters  and  busts  of  past  Chief  Justices,  are  now  wholly  visible.  The  list  of  busts 

is  as  follows  :  At  the  left  of  the  clock  (as  you  face  the  Court),  (1)  John 
Busts  Of  Jay  (1789  to  1795).  (2)  Oliver  Ellsworth  (1796  to  1799).  (3)  Roger  B. 

Justices.  Taney  (1835  to  1864).     (4)  Morrissou  R.  Waite  (1874  to  1888).     On  the 

right  of  the  clock  :  (1)  John  Rutledge  (an  Associate  Justice  nominated  in 
1795,  but  never  confirmed).  (2)  John  Marshall  (1801  to  1835).  (3)  Salmon  P.  Chase 
(1865  to  1873).  The  Justices,  who,  upon  court  days,  enter  in  procession  precisely  at 
noon,  wearing  the  voluminous  black  silk  gowns  which  alone  remain  in  the  United 
States  of  the  traditional  costume  of  the  English  judiciary,  sit  in  a  prescribed  order  of 
seniority.  In  the  center  is  the  Chief  Justice  ;  upon  his  right  hand  is  the  Associate  Jus- 
tice longest  in  service,  and  beyond  him  the  second,  third,  and  fourth  ;  and  then,  upon 
the  left  of  the  Chief  Justice,  the  fifth,  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth,  or  youngest  in  rank 
of  appointment.  The  court  is  at  present  composed  as  follows,  in  order  of  seniority : 
The  Chief  Justice,  Melville  W.  Fuller,  appointed  in  1888 ;  Associate  Justices.  John  M. 
Harlan,  1877  ;  Horace  Gray,  1881  ;  David  J.  Brewer,  1889  ;  Henry  B.  Brown,  1891  ; 
George  Shiras,  Jr.,  1892;  Edward  D.  White,  1894;  Rufus  Peckham,  1895;  and  Joseph 
McKenna,  1898. 

The  robing-room,  where  the  Justices  meet  informally  and  don  their  robes,  is  a  hand- 
some parlor,  with  much  antique  furniture,  west  of  the  corridor,  and  is  adorned  with 

some  notable  portraits  of  the  Chief  Justices  of  the  past. 

Robing-  The  portrait  of  John  Jay,  by  Gilbert  Stuart,  represents  him  arrayed  in  a 

room*  black  satin  robe  with  broad  scarlet  facings.     It  was  a  gift  to  the  court  by 

his  grandson,  John  Jay,  late  Minister  to  Austria.  That  of  Taney,  by  Healy, 
was  presented  by  the  Washington  Bar  Association.  The  portrait  of  Chief  Justice 


A  TOUR   OF  THE   CAPITOL. 


Marshall  is  by  Rembrandt  Peak',  and  was  presented  to  Chief  Justice  Chase  by  the  Bar 
of  New  York,  and  at  his  death  was  bequeathed  by  him  to  the  Supreme  Court. 

Neighboring  rooms  are  devoted  to  court  officers  and  clerks.  The  entrance  to  the 
Senate  Library,  on  the  floor  above,  is  nearly  opposite  to  the  Supreme  Court. 

A  short  corridor  (from  which  opens  the  winding  stairway  that  leads  to  the  top  of  the 
dome)  conducts  you  from  the  door  of  the  Supreme  Court  into  the  rotunda,  and  com- 
pletes the  tour  of  the  ( 'apitol. 

The  western  front  of  the  Capitol  is  directly  reached  by  leaving  the  rotunda  through 
the  western  door  and  passirg  down-tail's  beneath  the  apartment  formerly  occupied  by 
the  Library  of  Congress,  when  you  will  emerge  upon  the  terrace. 

Looking  back,  you  perceive  the  pillared  and  harmonious  addition  made  to  the  original 
doin'ii  of  the  building  for  the  accommodation  of  the  Library  of  Congress.     It  was  first 
erected  and  occupied  in  lS'J-4.  after  designs  by  Latrobe.     In  1851  it  was 
burned  out.  over  :}<UMM)  books  and  some  valuable  paintings  being  lost.  Western 

Its  restoration  wa-  immediately  be^un  by  Thomas  U.  Walter,  who  added  Front. 

the  two  side  halls,  expending $300,000  in  the  reconstruction.     The  library 
was  moved  in   IS!)?  to  the  magnificent  building  east  of  the  Capitol  grounds  described 
in  the  next  chapter. 

The  terrace  is  a  broad  esplanade,  separated  from  the  basement  of  the  building  by  a 
kind  of  moat,  which  permits  light  and  air  to  enter  the  lowest  story,  and  adds 
largely  to  the  solidity  and  architectural  grandeur  of  the  Capitol  when  viewed  from  below. 
rnderneath  this  terrace  are  a  >erie- of  casemate-like  apartments,  which  were  put  to  a 
novel  use  during  the  early  days  of  the  Civil  War.  when  this  part  of  the  building  had 
ju>t  been  put  into  form. 

The  Capitol  in  war  time  wa--  a  citadel  Its  halls  and  committee-rooms  were  used  as 
barracks  for  the  soldier-,  who  barricaded  the  outer  door-  with  barrels  of  cement  between 
the  pillar*:  its  ba-emeiit  gallerio  wen-  converted  into  storerooms  for  army  provisions  ; 
and  the  vaults  under  this  terrace  were  converted  into  bakeries,  where  16,000  loaves 

of  bread  were  baked  every  day  for  many 
months.  In  Harper's  excellent  "Cyclopae- 
dia of  United  States  History,"  p.  947,  may 
be  -i-en  M  picture  of  this  service,  with  the 
.-moke  pouring  out  of  improvised  chim- 
neys along  the  outer  edge.  The  '  'bakeries" 
are  now  clerks'  oflices  and  congressional 
committee-rooms. 

Broad  flights  of  stairs,  parting  right 
and  left  about  a  fountain,  lead  down  to  a 
lower  terrace,  in  the  center  of  which  is  the 
bron/e  sitting  figure  of  Chief  Justice  John 
Marshall.  The  artist  is  the 
renowned  American  sculp-  Marshall 

tor.    Wm.    W.    Story,  who  Statue. 

died  in  Rome  in  1895.  This 
statue,  which  was  executed  in  Italy,  was 
pre-ented  to  the  United  States  by  members 
of  the  bar.  while  Congress  supplied  the 
pedestal.  It  was  erected  in  1884,  and  cost 
$40,000.  The  Chief  Justice,  whose  por- 
trait is  said  to  be  an  excellent  one,  is  rep- 
resented as  seated  in  his  accustomed  court- 
room chair  and  wearing  his  official  robe, 
while  his  open  hand  appears  to  be  a  gesture 
enforcing  some  evident  truth  or  benign 
decision.  Each  side  of  the  marble  pedestal 
bears  a  group  in  low  relief  —  one,  "Minerva 
Dictating  the  Constitution  to  Young  Amer- 
ica," and  the  other,  "Victory  Leading 
Young  America  to  Swear  Fidelity  on  the 
Altar  of  the  Union." 

From  this  statue  broad  walks  descend  to 
Pennsylvania  Avenue  and  the  Naval  Moun- 

STATUE  OF  CHIEF  JUSTICE  JOHN  MARSHALL.        ment  on  the  right  and  to  Maryland  Avenue 
By  w.  w.  story.  and  the  Garfield  Monument  on  the  left, 


Ill  II  111  II 


THE    LIBRARY   OF    CON 


—  From  the  Capitol 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 

fT 


MAIN   ENTRANCE 

FIRST   STORY    PLAN. 

THE  LIBRARY  OF  CONGRESS. 

Floor  Plans  Prepared  under  the  Direction  of  Mr.  Bernard  R  Green.  Superintendent 
of  the  Library  Building  and  Grounds. 

First  Story. 

MAIN  ENTRANCE  HALL. 

Paintings  bv  John  W.  Alexander. 
(The  Evolution  of  the  Book.) 

1.  The  Cairn. 

2.  Oral  Tradition. 

3.  Egyptian  Hieroglyphics. 

4.  Picture  Writing. 

5.  The  Manuscript  Book. 

6.  The  Printing  Press. 

Paintings  by  Charles  Sprague 
Pearce. 


The  Family. 
Recreation. 

Study. 
Labor. 


5.  Religion. 

6.  "  Give     Instruction     Unto 

Those  Who  Cannot  Pro- 
cure It  for  Themselves." 

7.  Rest. 

Paintings  by  Elihu  Vedder. 

1.  Anarchy. 

2.  Corrupt  Legislation. 

3.  Government. 

i.    (ioori  Administration. 
5.    Peace  and  Prosperity. 


MAIN  ENTRANCE  HALL 

REPRESENTATIVES'  READING- 

Continued. 

ROOM. 

Paintings  by  H.  O.  Walker. 

Mosaics  bv  Frederick  Dielman. 
A   Law. 

1.    Lyric  Poetry. 
2.    Comus. 
3.    Adonis. 

B    Historv. 
Ceiling  Paintings  1>\-  Carl  (Juthcrx. 
1.    Creation  <>f  I,i<_'lit. 

4.    Ganymede. 

2.    Litrht  of  Excellence. 

5.    Endymion. 
fi.    The  Boy  of  Winander. 
7.    Uriel. 

3.    Litrht  of  Poetry. 
4.    Light  of  State. 
S.    Research.    The  Light  of. 

8.    "The  Poets  Who  on  Earth 

fi.    Truth. 

Have  Made  Us  Heirs  of 

7.    Science. 

Truth  and  Pure   Delight 
by  Heavenly  Lays." 

CORRIDOR  LEADING    NORTH   FROM 

M  \l  \    KNTKANCK    HALL. 

CORRIDOR   LEADING   SOUTH    FROM 

Paintings  by  Edward  Simmons. 

MAIN  ENTRANCE   HALL. 

i.    Melpomene. 

Paintings  by  WT.  McEwen. 

2.    Clio. 
3.    Thalia. 

1.    Paris. 

4.    Euterpe. 

2.    Jason. 

5.    Terpsichore. 

3.    Bellerophon. 

6.    Erato. 

4.    Orpheus. 

7.    Polyhymnia. 

5.    Perseus. 

S.    Ur:ini;i. 

«.    Promethfiis. 
7.    Theseus. 

9.    Calliope. 

S.    Achilles. 

NORTHWKST   1'A  VI  I.I  '  >  S  . 

D,    Hercules, 

Paintings  by  R,  L.  Dodge, 

LIBEAET   OF   CONGRESS. 


SECOND  STORY  PLAN. 

Second  Story. 


M  \IN     KVTi:  \  V    K    II  VI.  I.. 

Pompelian    Panel-    by  <i    W.   Ma>  - 
nard. 

Paintings  by  Walter  Shirlavv. 

A    Fortitude. 

1.     Archeology. 

B     Justice. 

'.'      I'otanv. 

C    Concordla. 

\-troiiomy. 
4.    Chemistry. 

D    Industry. 
E    Patriotism. 

..logy. 
r,.     Mathematics. 
;.     Phv-ics. 

F    Courage. 
G    Temperance. 
II     Prudence. 

v     /oology. 
PaintiiiL's  bv  George  K.  P.ar-e.  .Fr. 

Paint  In  ITS  by  W.  B.  Van  Ingen. 

1.      l.'Allegro. 

1.     I.vrica. 

2     11  Penseroso. 

-.'.     Tragedy. 

Mo-Mie  bv  Kliliu  Vedder. 

3.     Comc.lv. 

:;.     Minerva. 

1      Ilistorv. 

5.     Erotic;*. 

CORRIDOR   I.KADINO   SOUTH    KIMM 

«.    Tradition. 

M  \IN    KN  1  K\  V.    K    II  M.I  . 

7.    Fancy. 
s.    Romance. 

Paintings  bv  Kenyon  Cox. 

1.    The  Science-. 

Pnintlnsrs  bv  William  A.  Mackav. 

2.    The  Art-. 

'.i.     Atropos. 

Id      1  acli.-sis. 

SOUTH  WK>T   I'WILION. 

11.     Clotho. 

Paintings  by  G.  W.  Maynard. 

Paintings  bv  Robert  Reid. 

1.     Adventure. 

1.    Taste 

2.    Discovery. 

-    gilt. 

Smell. 

3.    Conquest. 
4.    Civilization. 

1.     Hearing. 

5.    Courage  —  Valor  —Forti- 

tude— Achievement. 

K.    Wisdoin. 
7.    I'nderstanding. 
8.    Knowledge. 

Medallions  by  Bela  L.  Pratt. 
A    Seed. 
Tl    "HI  <H  tin. 

9.    Philosophy. 

C    Fruit.  ' 

Paintines  bv  F.  W.  Benson. 

D   Decay. 

1.    Spring. 

'2.    Summer. 

SOUTHEAST  PAVILION. 

3.    Autumn. 

Paintings  bv  15.  L.  Dodge. 

I.    Winter. 

1  .    Earth. 

5.    Aglaia. 

•2.    Water 

«.    Thalia. 

3.    Fire. 

7.    Euphrosyne. 

4.    Air. 

Painting  by  Elmer  K.  Garnsey. 
r..   (  elfing  Disc. 

Medallions  by  P.ela  L.  Pratt. 
A     Ver. 
B    Acsla-. 
C    Auotumnus. 
D    Minus. 

CORRIDOR  LEAI)IN<;  NoUTII  FROM 
MAIN  ENTRANCE  HALL. 

Paintings  bv  Gari  Melchers. 

1.  War. 

2.  Peace. 

NORTH  W  KM     I' \\ILION. 

Paintings  by  William  de  L.  Dodge. 

1.  science. 

2.  Art. 

3.  Mu-ic. 

I.    Literature. 
5.    Ambition. 

Medallions  by  Bela  L.  Pratt. 
A    Spring. 
B    Summer, 
i      Autumn. 
D    Winter. 

NORTHEAST   PAVILION. 

Paintings  by  W.  P>.  Van  Ingen. 

1.  Agriculture  and  Interior 

Departments. 

2.  War  and  Navy  Departments 

3.  Justice  and  Post  Ottiee  I).- 

partments. 

4.  Treasury  and  State  Depart- 

ments. 
Painting  by  Elmer  E.  Garnsey. 

f>.    Ceiling  Disc. 
Medallions  by  Bela  L.  Pratt, 

A    Spring. 

B    Summer. 

C    Autumn. 

!>    Winter. 


"MINERVA."— Marble  Mosaic  by  Elihu  Vedder. 

44 


III. 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  CONGRESS. 


BRONZE   DOOR  "  TRADITION."— Mam  Entrance 
By  Olin  L.  Warner. 


The  Library  of  Congress, 
which  originated  with  the 
purchase  in 

London  in  Origin  Of 
1802  of  some  Library. 
3,000  books 

of  reference,  was  used  as 
kindling  material  by  the 
vandals  who  gleefully 
burned  the  Capitol  and  iu 
records  in  1814.  A  new 
foundation  was  laid  by  the 
purrli:iM-  of  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son's private  library,  and  in 
1851  the  collection  had  in- 
creased to  60,000  volumes, 
when  half  of  it,  or  more, 
was  again  swept  away  by 
fire.  After  this  damage 
was  repaired  by  the  recon- 
struction of  the  western 
front  of  the  Capitol,  the 
growth  was  rapid,  and  the 
shelf-room  speedily  over- 
flowed. 

The  arrangement  by 
which  the  library  received 
and  continues  to  receive  all 
the  publications  acquired 
by  the  Smithsonian  system 
of  international  exchanges, 
the  Peter  Force*  and  Doc- 
tor Toner  historical  collec- 
tions of  rare  books,  pam- 


phlets, engravings,  etc.,  and  the  steady  accumulations  under  the  action  of  the  copy- 
right law  have  been  the  principal  nuclei.  Congress  was  very  liberal  to  the  library  in 
its  earlier  days,  and  now  makes  large  annual  appropriations  for  its  support.  It  now 
contains  over  1,000,000  books  and  pamphlets  alone,  and  nearly  half  a  million  pieces 
of  music,  maps,  prints,  photographs,  manuscripts,  etc. 

*  Peter  Force  was  born  in  1790,  became  a  prominent  printer  in  New  York,  and  settled  in  Wash- 
ington in  1812,  where  he  died  in  186H,  after  a  useful  life  as  printer,  edjtor,  and  publicist.  He  collected 
an  immense  amount  of  material  for  a  documentary  history  of  the  American  colonies  and  Revolution, 
of  which  nine  volumes  were  published.  His  collection  of  documents,  manuscripts,  pamphlets,  pictures, 
etc.,  was  bought  by  the  Government  for  $100,000. 

45 


46  PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 

This  collection  is  very  rich  in  history,  political  science,  jurisprudence,  and  books, 
pamphlets,  and  periodicals  of  American  publication,  or  relating  in  any  way  to  America. 
At  the  same  time  the  library  is  a  universal  one  in  its  range,  no  depart- 
Treasures.        ment  of  literature  or  science  being  unrepresented.     The  public  are  privi- 
leged to  use  the  books  within  the  library  rooms,  while  members  of  Con- 
gress and  about  thirty  officials  of  the  Government  only  may  take  them  away.     The 
library  is  open  every  day  (Sundays  excepted),  from  9  o'clock  in  the  morning  until  10 
o'clock  at  night,  and  the  evening  is  an  exceedingly  favorable  time  to  see  it. 

As  long  ago  as  1872  efforts  were  made  to  provide  the  library  with  a  separate  build- 
ing ;  but  it  was  not  until  1897  that  this  laudable  purpose  was  accomplished.  The  tact 
that  the  Librarian  has  charge  (since  1870)  of  the  copyright  business  of  the  Government, 
and  that  this  library  is  given  and  compelled  to  receive  two  copies  of  every  book,  picture, 
or  other  article  copyrighted,  makes  its  growth  as  rapid  and  steady  as  the  progress  of  the 
American  press,  and  enforces  the  need  for  ample  space.  Innumerable  difficulties  and 
chimerical  schemes  were  overcome  before  Congress  at  last  purchased —by  condemna- 
tion, for  it  was  covered  with  dwelling-houses  — the  present  site  (ten  acres,  east  of  the 
Capitol  grounds)  for  a  new  Library  of  Congress,  paying  $585,000  for  the  property. 
Work  was  begun  in  1886,  but  not  much  was  accomplished  until  1888-9,  when  the  work 
was  placed  in  the  hands  of  Gen.  T.  L.  Casey,  Chief  of  Engineers,  U.  S.  A.,  under  whose 
charge,  and  the  superintendence  of  Bernard  R.  Green,  C.  E.,  the  magnificent  edifice  was 
perfected  in  1897.  The  architectural  plans,  originally  by  J.  J.  Smithmeyer  and  Paul  J. 
Pelz,  were  modified  later  by  E.  P.  Casey,  who  completed  the  building  and  its  decora- 
tion. As  to  the  interior,  Mr.  Casey  was  assisted  by  Elmer  E.  Garnsey,  in  charge  of  the 
color  decorations,  and  by  Albert  Weinert  as  to  the  stucco  work  ;  both  gentlemen  should 
receive  credit  for  much  beautiful  unsigned  work. 

The  style  is  Italian  renaissance  modified  ;  and  the  result  is  one  of  the  noblest  edifices 
externally,  and  the  most  artistic  one  inside,  of  all  the  grand  buildings  at  the  Capitol.    Its 
ground  plan  is  an  oblong  square,  inclosing  four  courts  and  a  rotunda. 
Architec-         Its  outside  dimensions  are  470  by  340  feet,  and  it  covers  three  and  three 
ture  and  quarters  acres  of  ground.     The  material  is  Concord   (N.  H.)  granite, 

Style.  exteriorly,  and  enameled  brick  within  the  courts,  while  the  framework  is 

of  steel,  and  the  walls  interiorly  are  encased  and  decorated  wholly  by 
stucco  and  marble.  The  octagonal  rotunda,  lighted  by  the  four  courts,  is  built  of  gray 
Maryland  granite,  and  crowned  by  a  roof-dome  of  copper,  the  dome  heavily  gilded,  and 
t  rminating,  195  feet  above  the  ground,  in  a  gilded  torch  of  Learning.  The  general 
effect  of  such  a  building  is  of  massiveness  disproportionate  to  height,  but  this  is  relieved 
by  "pavilions"  at  the  corners,  by  elaborate  entrances,  numerous  windows,  and  the  high 
ornamentation  of  the  exterior  cornices,  window-casings,  etc. 

The  decorations  are  wholly  the  work  of  American  architects,  painters, 
Decorations,     and  sculptors,  more  than  fifty  of  whom  participated  in  the  work;  so  that 
the  library  is  an  exhibit  and  memorial  of  the  native  art  and  ability  of 
the  citizens  of  the  United  States. 

Approaches,  Entrance,  and  Vestibule. 

The  Approaches  and  Entrance  to  the  library  are  on  the  western  front,  facing 
the  Capitol,  where  a  grand  staircase  leads  up  to  doorways  of  the  central  pavilion 
admitting  one  upon  the  main  floor. 

The  basement  may  be  entered  by  a  door  beneath  this  staircase,  and  an 
Entrance.  elevator  will  be  found  by  which  the  visitor  may  ascend  to  the  top  of 

the  building ;  but  the  most  interesting  and  proper  approach  is  by 
ascending  the  grand  staircase  to  the  main  entrance. 


ROTUNDA   OF    PUBLIC    READING-ROOM. 


50 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO    WASHINGTON. 


GRAND    STAIRCASE.-  Main   Entrance  Hall. 

A  survey  of  the  fagade  should  be  made  before  doing  so,  not  only  to  gain  a  general  idea 
of    the    architecture,     but  especially  to  note  the    ethnological    heads    carved    upon 
the  keystones  of  the  thirty-three  arched  windows,  since  these  are  a  novel 
Racial  innovation  upon  the  gorgons,  etc.,    usually  employed  in  such  places. 

Heads.  These  heads  are  studied  and  accurate  types  of  the  principal  races  of  man- 

kind, modeled  by  H.  J.  Ellicott  and  Wm.  Boyd,  under  the  criticism  of 
Prof.  O.  T.  Mason  of  the  National  Museum  ;  they  are  as  important  as  they  are  novel,  and 
are  grouped  according  to  kinship. 

The  first  thing  to  attract  attention,  however,  is  the  fountain,  on  the  street  front  of 
the  staircase,  which  was  designed  by  R.  H.  Perry  and  is  the  most  elaborate  thing  of   its 
kind  in  the  country.    Its  broad  semicircular  basin  contains  a  dozen  bronze 
Perry  figures  grouped  upon  natural  rocks  half  hidden  in  niches  of  the  terrace, 

Fountain.  representing  a  group  of  Tritons  and  creatures  of  the  sea  attendant  upon 
Neptune,  the  presiding  genius  of  the  sea-world.  From  their  mouths 
or  from  the  "wreathed  horns  "they  are  blowing  spout  jets  of  water.  The  central 
figure  is  a  colossal  image  of  the  kingly  old  sea-god,  and  on  each  side  sea-nymphs  bestrid- 
ing spirited  sea-horses  are  heralding  his  glory.  Sea  serpents,  turtles,  and  other  denizens 
of  the  deep  play  about  his  feet  and  throw  cross-lines  of  water  that  catch  the  sunlight  at 
every  angle. 

Passing  up  the  flights  of  broad  granite  steps,  we  see  that  the  front  of  the  central 
pavilion  consists  of  three  entrance  arches,  surmounted  by  a  portico,  and  against  its  cir- 
cular upper  windows  are  placed  nine  portico  busts  of  great  literati,  as 
PortlCO.  follows,  beginning  on  the  left  :     Demosthenes,  Scott,  Dante  (by  Herbert 

Adams),  Goethe,  Franklin,  Macaulay  (by  F.  W.  Ruckstuhl),  Emerson, 
Irving,  Hawthorne  (by  J.  Scott  Hartley).  The  balustrades  bear  splendid  bronze  candel- 


THE    LIBRARY    OF   CONGRESS.  51 

abra.  modeled  by  Bela  L.  Pratt,  which  illuminate  the  .stairway  at  night ;  and  the  same 
M-ulptor  modeled  the  tine  carvings  over  the  three  entrance  arches,  in  which  Literature, 
Science,  and  Art  (reading,  as  always  in  this  book,  from  left  to  right)  typified  by  pairs  of 
life-si/.e  figures  leaning  against  the  curve  of  the  arches,  and  accompanied  by  appro- 
priate symbols —  a  writing  tablet  and  a  book,  the  torch  of  knowledge  and  a  globe,  and 
the  mallet  of  sculpture  and  palette  and  brush  of  painting,  respectively. 
The  bnm/e  doors  within  the  entrance  arches  admit  us  to  the  main  Bronze 

entrance   hall   of  the  Library.     These  doors  are  worthy  of  study,  and  Doors. 

together  embody  the  development  of  recorded  knowledge  from  prehistoric 
oral  tradition  and  bardic  tales  to  the  modern  preservation  of  history  and  science  by 
printing, 

The  tirst  door,  at  the  left,  means  Tradition,  and  its  tympanum  was  modeled  by  the 
late  Olin  T.  Warner,  in  a  manner  suggesting  a  wise  woman  of  prehistoric  times  relating 
tin-  traditions  of  her  anceMor-  to  an  eager  child.  Among  her  auditors  are  an  American 
Indian  (whose  face  i-  that  of  Joseph,  chief  of  the  Nc/.  IYiv<Vi.  a  Norseman,  a  man  of 
the  stone  aire.  and  a  shepherd,  representative  of  the  pastoral  races.  Imagination  and 
Memory  are  depicted  in  the  panels  on  the  left  and  right  valves  of  the  door  itself. 

With  a  similar  idea  Mr.  Warner  also  figured  a  woman,  over  his  door  at  the  right, 
teaching  children  the  Art  »,f  Writing,  while  the  four  peoples  of  the  world  —  Egyptian, 
Jew.  Christian,  and  <Jreek — whose  literatures  have  been  mo-t  influential,  are  typified  in 
attentive  figure-.  On  the  double,  door  are  Re-eardi  at  the  left,  and  Truth,  with  sym- 
bolic mirror  and  serpent  at  the  ri-hi.  Thi-  door  wa-  unfinished  at  the  time  of  Mr. 
Warner's  death  and  was  completed  by  Adam-. 

In  the  tympanum  of  the  central  door,  by  Frederick  Macmonnies.  is  typified  the  Art 
of  7V///////.'/.  Minerva,  u'odde--  of  learning,  i-  sending  books  to  the  world  by  her  winged 
messenger-:  while  IV-a-ii-.  the  embodiment  of  poetry,  and  the  filial  stork  and  emblems  of 
the  printer'-  art  <»//-.x  ////*////•///////>,/)  aiv  -mi  at  the  left  and  right.  The  female  figures 
upon  the  double  door  stand  for  The  Humanities  and  Intellect. 

Tin •-«•  door-  admit  the  vi-itor  to  a  corridor  stretching  along  the  west  front  of  the 
pavilion,  forming  a  vestibule.     This  extends  between  piers  of  Italian  marble  support- 
ing arches,  against  which,  on  heavy  brackets,  are  repeated  pair-  of  figures, 
almost  detached  from  the  wail  —  Minerva  in  War.  and  Minerva  in  Peace.  Vestibule. 

the  former  hearing  a  sword  and  torch,  the  latter  a  scroll  and  globe.     The 
electric  lamp  standard  between  them  is  a  (Jreek  altar.     These    ti-Kiv-   were   modeled  by 
Herbert  Adam-,  and  are  justly  among  the  most  admired  ornaments  in  the  whole  edifice. 
Like  the  elaborate  ceiling,  and  all  other  ornaments  here,  they  are  modeled  in  stucco, 
which  is  lavishly  touched  with  gold. 

Main  Entrance  Hall. 

Passing  on  through  the  screen  of  arches  one  enters  the  Main  Entrance  Hall.     This  is  a 
vast  square  well,  occupying  the  center  of  t  he  rectangular  pavilion,  and  containing  the  mag- 
nificent stairways  that  lead  to  the  second  floor  and  to  the  rotunda  gallery. 
Its   floor  is  a   lovely   mo-aic  of  colored  marbles,    surrounding  a   brass-  Main 

rayed  disk  showing  the  points  of  the  compass:  and  this  floor,  as  else-  Entrance 

where,  is  made  to  harmonize  in  design  and  tint  with  the  remainder  of  the  Hall. 

decoration.  The  farther  (eastern)  wall  is  broken  by  a  noble  Ionic  door- 
way, forming  a  sort  of  triumphal  arch,  whose  entablature  is  inscribed  with  the 
names  of  the  builders  ;  it  admits,  by  a  passage  described  elsewhere,  to  the  Public 
Reading-room,  and  the  carved  figures  (by  "Warner)  on  its  arch  personify  Study  —  on 
the  left  a  youth  eager  to  learn,  on  the  right  an  aged  man  contemplating  the  fruits  of 
knowledge. 


52  PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 

Overhead,  the  hall  is  open  to  the  roof,  seventy-two  feet  above,  where  richly  tinted 
skylights  pour  a  flood  of  sunshine  down  upon  the  shimmering  surfaces,  giving 

an  ethereal  lightness  and  beauty  to  the  really  massive  architecture  that  is 
Martiny  peculiarly  effective  and  charming  Everything  is  white  Italian  marble, 

Sculptures.  and  lavishly  adorned  with  sculpture,  all  the  work  of  Philip  Martiny.  On 

either  side  rise  the  grand  staircases,  circling  about  elaborate  newel-posts 
that  support  bronze  light-bearers  (also  modeled  by  Martiny),  and  sloping  upward  beside 
piers  whose  arches  are  exquisitely  adorned  with  rose  wreaths  and  leafy  branches.  Each 
of  the  solid  balustrades  bears  a  procession  of  nude  figures  of  infants,  or  elves,  connected 
by  garlands,  and  each  representing  by  its  symbols  some  art,  industry,  or  idea.  On  the 
right  (south)  from  the  bottom  up,  go  a  Mechanician,  a  Hunter,  Bacchus,  a  Farmer,  a 
Fisherman,  Mars,  a  Chemist,  and  a  Cook;  on  the  left,  a  Gardener,  a  Naturalist,  a 
Student,  a  Printer,  a  Musician,  a  Physician,  an  Electrician,  and  an  Astronomer.  Out- 
side of  these,  perched  upon  pilasters  of  the  buttresses  (one  on  each  side),  are  charming 
groups  illustrating  the  continents  and  their  inhabitants  by  globes  showing  the  Old 
World  and  the  New,  and  their  peoples.  On  the  right,  or  south  side  of  the  hall,  beside 
the  map  of  Africa  and  America,  sit  two  chubby  boys  —  one  in  the  feather  headdress 
and  other  accouterments  of  an  American  Indian,  and  the  other  showing  the  dress  and 
arms  of  an  African.  Opposite,  beside  their  globe,  are  similar  boys,  personifying  Asia. 
in  Mongolian  robes,  and  Europe,  in  classic  gown  surrounded  by  types  of  civilization 
indicating  the  pre-eminence  of  the  Caucasian  race  in  Architecture,  Literature,  and  Music. 
Figures  of  children  are  also  set  in  relief  upon  the  balustrade  of  the  top  landing  on  each 
side,  those  above  the  south  staircase  signifying  Comedy,  Poetry,  and  Tragedy  ;  and 
those  opposite,  Painting,  Architecture,  and  Sculpture.  All  of  these  little  figures  are 
accompanied  by  symbolic  accessories,  so  that  here,  as  usually  elsewhere  in  this  highly 
thoughtful  scheme  of  decoration,  close  study  is  required  to  gain  the  full  extent  of  the 
artist's  meaning  —  study  that  will  be  rewarded  by  a  perception  of  artistic  harmony. 

The  ceiling  of  the  Main  Entrance  Hall  is  coved  and  elaborately  ornamented 
Ceiling1.  with  carving  and  stucco  work,  among  which  are  placed  tablets  bearing 

the  names  of  illustrious  authors,  and  a  great  number  of  symbols  of  the 
arts  and  sciences. 

First  Floor  Halls  and  Corridors. 

Surrounding  the  Main  Entrance  Hall  runs  a  rectangle  of  corridors  or  halls  forming 
vaulted  and  richly  adorned  passageways  around  the  interior  of  the  first  floor  of  the 
pavilion,  and  admitting  to  various  rooms.  They  are  paneled  in  white 
First  Floor  marble  to  the  height  of  eleven  feet ;  their  floors  are  laid  in  harmonious 
Halls,  patterns  of  Italian  white,  Vermont  blue,  and  Tennessee  red-brown 

marbles,  and  their  vaulted  ceilings  are  covered  with  marble  mosaics 
from  cartoons  by  H.  T  Schladermundt,  after  designs  by  E.  P.  Casey.  Hence  these 
halls  are  sometimes  called  the  mosaic  vaults.  Tablets  bearing  the  names  of  literati, 
and  various  trophies,  are  also  pleasingly  introduced  ;  and  at  intervals  upon  the  walls 
semicircular  spaces  or  tympanums  are  utilized  for  some  of  the  most  brilliant  and  inter- 
esting paintings  in  the  building.  It  would  be  well  to  make  the  circuit  of  these  halls 
before  going  elsewhere. 

The  West  Hall  is  the  Entrance  Vestibule  already  described. 

The  South  Hall  lies  at  the  right  of  the  south  staircase,  and  is  beautified  by  paintings 
(in  oil  on  canvas,  glued  to  the  wall  by  a  composition  of  white  lead  —  as  is  the  case  with 
most  of  the  other  mural  paintings  here)  by  H.  O.  Walker,  illustrating  Lyric  Poetry. 

The  principal  one  is  upon  the  large  tympanum  at  the  east  end,  and  represents  Lyric 
Poetry  standing  in  a  wood  striking  a  lyre,  and  surrounded  by  Pathos,  Truth  (nude  of 


THE    LIBRARY   OF   CONGRESS. 


53 


•AMERICA    AND    AFRICA."— Detail  of  Grand  Staircase.     Philip  Mart  ny,  Sculptor. 


EUROPE    AND    ASIA."— Detail  of  Grand  Staircase.     Philip  Martiny,  Sculptor. 


54 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 


course),  Devotion,  Beauty,  and  playful  Mirth.  In  the  smaller  spaces  Mr.  Walker 
has  painted  "flushed  Ganymede  ....  half  buried  in  the  cable's 

Walker  down,"  the  EncTymion  of  Keats'   poem,   lying  on  Mt.   Patmos.   under 

Paintings.  the  glance  of  his  lover  Diana  (the  moon);  The  Boy,  of  Wordsworth's  well- 
known  poem;  Emerson,  as  typified  in  his  poem  "Uriel";  Milton  as 

suggested  by  "Comus,"  particularly  the  lines  — 

Cau  any  mortal  mixture  of  earth's  mold, 
Breathe  such  divine,  enchanting  ravishment? 

The  next  illustrates  the    "Adonis"  of  Shakspere;  and  a  broad  border  of  figures 
portraying  Wordsworth's  lines: 

The  poets,  who  on  earth  have  made  us  heirs 
Of  truth  and  pure  delight  by  heavenly  lays ! 

The  names  tableted  on  ^^^-^MHBM^^fc^  ^is    Border    are    of    tnc 

great    lyric    poets —     ^^i£^fll  MB^^felta^.     Longfellow,    Lowell, 

Whittle..      Hry-     ^^f^k  -'5jfcS£L>          ;1!"-     Wlli1ln;m- 

and  !*(><•  (Am-      >^B.  ^^^^BJ^jElLj^B  ''^'iS'H/'^RiL      - 

Browning,       B  F  %£?l)-  ''•k Slu>1 ' ('-v' 

Byron, 


LYRIC    POETRY.— By  H.  O.  Walker. 

Hugo,  Heine,  Theocritus,  Pindar,  Anacreon,  Sappho,  Catullus,  Horace,  Petrarch,  and 
Ron  sard. 

-At  its  east  end  this  hall  opens  at  right  angles  to  the  south,  where  a  corridor  extends 
along  the   interior  of  the  building,   looking   out  upon   the    southwest  court   to   the 

reading-rooms  reserved  for  Senators  and  Representatives,    and   also  to 
IMcEwCfl  the  public  reading-room  or  periodical  room.     This  corridor  was  given  to 

Paintings.        Walter    McEwen    to    decorate,    and    he    chose    subjects    from     Greek 

mythology. 

Each  painting  gives  an  incident  characterizing  a  myth,  as  follows,  from  north  to 
south:  1.  Paris,  who  won  Helen  by  giving  the  prize  of  beauty  to  Venus,  sitting  at 
her  home  and  conversing  with  her  father,  Menelaus,  King  of  Sparta,  preparatory  to 
taking  Helen  back  with  him  to  Troy. 

2.  Jason  recruiting  his  Argonauts  for  the  voyage  to  recover  the  Golden  Fleece, 
beneath  which  is  inscribed: 

One  equal  temper  of  heroic  hearts  made  weak  by  time  and  fate, 
But  strong  in  will  to  strive,  to  seek,  to  find,  and  not  to  yield. 

3.  Bellerophon  accepting  from  Minerva  the  bridle  for  h'is  winged  horse  Pegasus,  by 
whose  aid  he  is  to  slay  the  Chimsera. 

4.  Orpheus  slain  by  the  Mo3nads.  or  priestesses  of  Bacchus,  in  one  of  their  orgies, 
because  he  would  not  play  upon  his  marvelous  lyre  hymns  of  praise  to  Bacchus. 

A  glorious  company,  the  flower  of  men  to  serve  as  model 
For  the  mighty  world,  and  be  the  fair  beginning  of  a  time. 

5.  Perseus  turning  to  stone  Polydetes  and  his  court,  by  means  of  the  head  of  the 
Gorgon  Medusa. 


THE    LIBRARY   OF   CONGRESS. 


6.  Prometheus  warning  his  brother  Epimetheus  against  accepting  the  mischievous 
Pandora  from  the  gods;  but  the  admonition  was  not  heeded,  Pandora's  box  was  opened, 
and  all  the  ills  of  the  world  let  loose.     The  inscription  is: 

To  the  souls  of  fire,  I,  Pallas  Athena,  give  more  fire; 
And  to  those  who  are  manful,  a  might  more  than  man's. 

7.  Theseus,  who  had  killed  the  Minotaur  and  rescued  Ariadne  from  Crete,  is  here 
about  to  desert  her  on  the  island  of  Naxon  at  the  command  of  Minerva. 

8.  Achilles  discovered  by  Ulysses  at  the  court  of  the  King  of  Scyros,  where  he  had 
been  sent  by  his  mother  to  grow  up  among  the  women  in  order  to  keep  him  from  the 
dangers  of  war.     Beneath  it  are  the  lines  from  Byron's  "  Childe  Harold  ": 

Ancient  of  days,  august  Athenar  where  are  thy  men  of  might,  thy  grand 
In  soul?    Gone  —  glimmering  through  the  dream  of  things  that  were. 

9.  Hercules  in  the  guise  of  a  woman  spinning  for  Omphale,  Queen  of  Lydia. 

The  House  Reading-room,  opening  from  this  corridor,  is  exclusively  for  the  use 
of  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

"Xo  apartment  iii  the  library."  remarks  Mr.  Herbert  Small,  "is  more  lavishly  and 

sumptuously  orna- 
mented. The  floor 
is  dark 

quar-  Represent- 

tered  atives* 

oak;  Reading- 

t  h  e  room. 

wall  s 

have  a  dado  of 
heavy  oak  paneling 
about  eleven  feet 
high  ;  and  the  deep 
window  arches  are 
finished  entirely  in 
the  same  material. 
Above  the  dado  the 
walls  are  hung  with 
olive  green  silk. 
The  ceiling  is 
beamed  and  pan- 
eled, and  is  finished 
in  gold  and  colors, 
with  painted  dec- 
orations in  the  pan- 
els, and  encrusted 
conventional  orna- 
ment in  cream  white 
long  the  beams. 
Over  the  three  doors 
are  carved  oak  tym- 
panums, by  Mr. 
Charles  H.  Niehaus, 
comprising  two  de- 

MANTEL   IN   HOUSE   READING-ROOM.  signs  —  the  first    of 

Mosaic  Panel,  "History, "by  Frederick  Dielman.  a  Central  CartOUChe 


56 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE   TO   WASHINGTON. 


bearing  an  owl,  and  supported  on  either  side  by  the  figure  of  a  seated  youth  ;  the 
other,  the  American  Eagle  flanked  by  two  cherubs.  At  either  end  of  the  room  is  a 
magnificent  mantel  of  Siena  marble.  Over  the  fireplace  is  a  large  mosaic  panel  by 
Mr.  Frederick  Dielman,  representing  at  one  end  of  the  room,  Law,  and  at  the  other, 
History.  Above  is  a  heavy  cornice  supported  on  beautiful  columns  of  Pavanazzo 
marble,  the  general  color  of  which  is  gray  instead  of  yellow,  but  with  a  system  of  veining 
which  agrees  very  well  with  that  of  the  Siena.  In  the  center  of  the  cornice  is  a  small 

cartouche  of  green 
onyx  in  the  mantel 
to  the  south,  and  of 
labradorite  or  lab- 
rador  spar  in  the 
other,  the  latter 
stone  being  re- 
markable for  its  ex- 
quisite gradations 
of  deep  peacock 
blue,  continually 
changing  with  the 
light  and  the  point 
from  which  it  is 
seen." 

The  mosaics 
above  the  fire- 
places, from  car- 
toons by  Dielman, 
were  made  in  Ven- 
ice, and  are  super- 
ior examples  of  this 
exquisite  and 
peculiar  art  whose 
home  is  in  northern 
Italy.  They  should 
be  contemplated 
thoughtfully.  The 
ceiling  paintings, 
by  Carl  Gutherz, 
filling  seven  panels, 
should  also  be  close- 
ly studied,  begin- 
ning with  the  cen- 
tral one.  The  series  idealizes  the  Spectrum  of  Sunlight.  In  the  center  is  the  first,  yellow 
—  the  Creation  of  Light ;  second,  next  north,  orange  —  the  Light  of  Intelligence  ;  third, 
red  —  the  Light  of  Poetry  ;  fourth,  violet  —  Light  of  State,  the  United  States  being 
regarded  as  embodying  the  highest  expression  of  government,  and  suitably  represented 
by  the  violet  color,  which  is  formed  by  a  combination  of  red,  white,  and  blue  ;  next  in 
order  (south  of  the  center)  follow  green  —  Research  ;  blue  —  Truth  ;  and  indigo  — 
Science.  The  cherubs  in  the  corner  of  each  panel  typify  attributes  of  each  subject. 

The  Senators'  Reading-room,  at  the  end  of  the  corridor,  fills  the  corner  room  of  the 
building,  or  Southwest  Pavilion,  and  is  another  lavishly  decorated  and  furnished  apart- 
ment, as  sumptuous  as,  but  somewhat  less  gaudy  than,  the  reading-room  of  the  House. 


MANTEL   IN    SENATE    READING-ROOM.— Panel  by  Herbert  Adams. 


THE    LIBEAEY   OF  CONGKESS. 


THE   EVOLUTION    OF   THE    BOOK.-  By  J.  W    Alexander.     East  Corridor. 

It  is  reserved  for  Senators.     The  walls  are  of  oak,  inlaid  with  arabesques,         Senators' 
above  which  are  hangings  of  red  figured  silk,  while  the  ornamented         Reading- 
ceiling  is  gold,  relieved  by  deep  red.    A  carved  panel  over  the  door  (by  room. 
Adams),  and  'a  series  of  figures  (by  W.  A.  Mackay),  bearing  garlands, 
gracefully  enliven  the  golden  ceiling.     This  room  is  visible  only  as  a  special  privilege. 

The  Periodical  or  Public  Reading- room  occupies  the  great  hall  along  the  south  side 
of  the  building  and  is  entered  from  this  curtain  corridor.  It  is  finished  in  restful  sim- 
plicity, and  contains  a  large  series  of  newspapers  from  all  parts  of  the 
Union  and  from  many  foreign  countries,  and  an  unrivaled  series  of  Periodical 
weekly  and  monthly  periodicals.  This  room  and  all  its  periodicals  are  Reading- 
open  to  the  public,  without  any  formality,  and  one  may  choose  what  he  room. 
will  and  sit  and  read  as  long  :is  he  likes. 

Returning  to  tin-  Main  Knt  ranee  Hall,  the  next  part  to  be  examined  is  the  East  Hall,* 
in  the   rear  of  the  >tairca.-es.  in  which  are  John  W.  Alexander's  paintings,  entitled  The 
I'lrnlntian  <>f  t/n  I><»ik,  a  theme  treated  with  great  intelligence  and  force. 
The  scries  be-ins  at  the  south  end  of  the  hall  with  the  erection  of  the        Alexander 
( 'airn  —  the  rudest  means  prehistoric  men  took  to  commemorate  an  event        Paintings. 
or  transmit  the  knowledge  of  something.     The  next  picture  illustrates 
Oral  Tradition — an  Arab  story-teller  of  the  desert.     The  third  represents  an  Egyptian 
carvei  of  hieroglyphics,  at  work  upon  a  tomb,  while  a  young  girl  watches  him.     These 
three  are  the  forerunners  of  the  Book,  the  later  developments  of  which  are  depicted  oppo- 


THE    EVOLUTION    OF   THE    BOOK.— By  J.  W.  Alexander.     East  Corridor. 
*  A  ladies1  toilet-room  will  be  found  at  its  southern  end. 


58 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 


site.  Picture-writing,  the  first  step  above  carved  hieroglyphics,  is  illustrated  by  an 
American  Indian  painting  some  tribal  record  upon  a  skin  ;  the  next  advance  is  shown  by 
the  figure  of  a  monk,  sitting  by  the  window  of  his  cell,  laboriously  illuminating  some 
sacred  book  in  the  days  of  the  Middle  Ages ;  and  lastly  the  rise  of  modern  methods 
appears  in  a  scene  in  the  shop  of  Gutenberg,  the  first  printer,  who  stands  examining  a 
proof  sheet,  while  an  assistant  looks  on  and  an  apprentice  works  the  lever  of  a  primitive 
hand  press.  These  are  among  the  most  popularly  interesting  pictures  in  the  library,  and 
are  accompanied  by  the  names  of  Americans  (all  born  in  the  United  States)  distinguished 
in  arts  and  sciences,  the  specialty  of  each  two  denoted  by  trophies.  On  the  pendentives 
of  the  ceiling  are  inscribed  Latrobe  and  Walter  (architecture) ;  Cooke  and  Silliman  (natural 
philosophy) ;  Mason  and  Gottschalk  (music) ;  Stuart  and  Allston  (painting) ;  Powers  and 
Crawford  (sculpture) ;  Bond  and  Rittenhouse  (astronomy) ;  Francis  and  Stevens  (engi- 


neering) ;    Emerson    and 

Dana  (natural  science) ; 

(mathematics).  In 

vaul  tare  writ  - 

of    other 

eminent 

three 


Holmes  (poetry)  ;  Say  and 
Pierce  and    Bowditch 
the  mosaic  of  the 
ten  the  names 
Americans 
in     the 
\   learned 


GOOD   ADMINISTRATION.—  By  Elihu  Vedder. 

professions:  Medicine  —  Cross,  Wood,  McDowell,  Rush,  and  Warren;  Theology  — 
Brooks,  Edwards,  Mather,  Channing,  Beecher ;  Law  —  Curtis,  Webster,  Hamilton, 
Kent,  Pinkney,  Shaw,  Taney,  Marshall,  Story,  and  Gibson.  * 

The  entrance  to  the  reading-room  in  the  Rotunda  leads  from  this  East 
Rotunda  Hall,  through  a  vestibule  (where  also  is  the  elevator),  adorned  in  its 

Entrance.          five  tympanums  with  an  impressive  series  of  allegorical  paintings  by 

Elihu  Vedder,  embodying  the  idea  of  government  in  a  manner  that  has 
aroused  the  highest  admiration  of  all  artists,  and  conveys  food  for  deep  thought. 

The  central  painting  over  the  reading-room  door  is  a  conception  of  republican  Gov- 
ernment in  its  noblest  estate.     That  upon  its  right  exhibits  how  good  administration 

(the  first) leads  to  peace  and  prosperity  (the  second);  contrasted  with  and 
Yedder  opposite  these  are  two  vivid  paintings  portraying  Corrupt  Legislation, 

Paintings.        resulting  in  Anarchy.     Careful  study  of  these  pictures  will  bring  out  an 

instructive  comprehension  of  how  wide  and  subtle  was  the  artist's 
thought  in  regard  to  each.  Thus  the  ideal  of  government  is  typified  in  the  figure 
of  a  grave-faced  woman  who  sits  upon  a  stable  throne  beneath  the  shade  of  the  steadfast 
oak  ;  the  bridle  held  by  one  of  the  attendant  youths  signifies  the  restraint  of  law,  the 
books  of  the  other  the  requirement  of  intelligence  in  the  citizen.  Corrupt  Legislation 


*It  should  be  remarked  that  almost  no  names  of  living  men  are  inscribed  upon  the  walls  of  the 
library. 


THE    LIBRARY   OF   CONGRESS. 


59 


exhibits  a  woman  of  careless  and  corrupt  mien,  sitting  upon  a  throne  whose  arms  are 
cornucopias  of  money.  She  rejects  the  appeal  of  her  poverty-stricken  subjects  for  help, 
and  in  place  of  the  even  balance  of  justice  holds  a  sliding  scale  that  will  easily  lend 
itself  to  bribery  —  indicated  by  the  bag  of  gold  a  rich  man  is  placing  in  its  pan.  The 
voting  urn  is  overturned,  spilling  its  neglected  ballots,  and  wealth  is  piled  at  the  foot  of 
the  throne.  In  the  background  the  factories  of  the  rich  are  active  and  prosperous, 
while  opposite  the  industries  of  the  poor  a§e  idle.  Anarchy  is  the  result  of  such  govern- 
ment, and  is  represented  raving  with  torch  and  wine  cup  upon  the  ruins  of  the  State. 
On  the  other  hand.  (,'»»(/  Ail  mitt  iteration  is  a  benign,  yet  powerful  personage,  sitting 
upon  a  seat  whose  solidity  is  typified  by  the  arch  at  its  back,  dispensing  even  justice. 
At  her  right,  a  figure  winnows  grain  above  a  voting  urn,  selecting  carefully  the  wheat 
(-odd  men)  from  the  chaff  in  the  filling  of  public  offices ;  while  at  her  left,  an  educated 
citi/enOiip  confirms  such  ^^^^^HBI^B^B^^fc^  choice  by  the  ballot.  The 
beneficent  sequel  to  ^^^^|  ^fe^^^  this, 

jiti'if//.    is     dis- 

of  the  series, 
agriculture 

del1  gov- 

foeter- 

care. 


Peace  and  Pros- 
played  in  the  last 
where  arts  and 
flourish  un- 
ernment's 
i  ng 


GOVERNMENT.— By  Elihu  Vedder. 

Pa— ing  on.  now.  to  the  Xorth  Hall,  the  marble  stairway  descending  to  the  basement 
and    the   door    of    the    Librarian's    room    are    first    encountered.      The 
Librarian's  <>Mice  is  a  coxy,  luxuriously  furnished  apartment,  forming  the       Librarian's 
private   oftice   of   the    Librarian  of   Congress;    it   is  finished  in  oak  and  Office. 

exquisitely  decorated  by  Mr.  Holslag  and  Mr.   AVeinert.   the  prevailing 
tone  of  color  being  a   delicate   given.     This  room  is  not  open  to  those  who  have  no 
particular  business  with  the  Librarian. 

The  North  Hall  is  opposite   the  south  one,   or  at  the   left  of  the  Pearce 

staircases  as  one  enters  the  front  door,  and  contains  a  series  of  seven  Paintings. 
wall  paintings,  by  Charles  S.  Pearce.  representing  the  occupations  of  the 
civili/.ed  mind.  The  mo-t  important  tills  the  great  panel  at  the  east  end,  and  depicts 
an  idealixation  of  The  /•'<////////.  under  such  circumstances  as  the  poets  imagine  exist  in 
Arcadia.  The  father  has  returned  from  hunting,  and  the  mother  holds  out  the  baby  for  his 
giveting.  while  other  children  and  the  aged  parents  cease'their  occupations  to  join 
in  the  welcome.  On  the  south  wall  is  one  picture  only  —  Rest;  while  opposite,  read- 
ing  from  left  to  right,  are  four,  entitled:  Religion,  Labor,  Study,  Recreation.  An 
exquisite  border  at  the  end  presents  artistically  an  apothegm  of  Confucius:  "Give 
instruction  unto  those  who  can  not  procure  it  for  themselves."  The  whole  idea  is 
of  a  quiet,  rational,  uplifted  manner  of  life,  and  the  names  accompanying  these 
scenes  are  those  of  the  great  educators  of  the  world  —  Froebel,  Pestalozzi,  Rousseau, 
Comenius,  Ascham,  Howe,  Gallaudet,  Mann,  Arnold,  and  Spencer. 


60  PICTOEIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 

The  corridor  extending  from  the  east  end  of  this  hall  to  the  Northwest  Pavilion 
is  richly  decorated  by  a  series  of  idealizations  of  the  Muses,  seated  figures  painted  with 

singular  brightness  of  color  and  interest  of  composition,  by  Edward 
Simmons'  Simmons.  Beginning  at  the  south  end,  over  the  entrance  door  is : 
"Muses."  1.  Melpomene,  muse  of  tragedy,  enveloped  in  a  swirl  of  red  drapery. 

2.  Clio,  muse  of  history,  with  a  helmet  signifying  heroic  deeds.  3. 
Thalia,  muse  of  comedy  and  gay  pleasure,  be»ide  whom  dances  a  little  satyr  with  Pan's 
pipes,  and  who  has  Pope's  lines  : 

Descend,  ye  Nine,  descend  and  sing ; 
Wake  into  voice  each  silent  string. 

4.  Euterpe,  muse  of  lyric  poetry,  the  patroness  of  the  song,  as  suggested  by  the 
flute.  5.  Terpsichore,  muse  of  the  choral  dance,  who  strikes  the  rhythmic  cymbals. 
Beneath  her  is  the  couplet : 

Oh,  Heaven-born  sisters,  source  of  art, 

Who  charm  the  sense  or  mend  the  heart. 

6.  Erato,  muse  of  love  poetry,  is  nude  and  has  a  white  rose,  7.  Polyhymnia,  muse 
of  sacred  song,  holds  an  open  book  ;  and  beneath  is  written  the  third  of  Pope's  coup- 
lets : 

Say,  will  you  bless  the  bleak  Atlantic  shore, 

AncJ  in  the  West  bid  Athens  rise  once  more  ! 

8.  Urania  shows  herself  muse  of  astronomy  by  her  instruments.  9.  Calliope,  muse 
of  epic  poetry  and  eloquence,  is  symbolized  by  a  scroll  and  peacock  feathers. 

The  Northwest  Pavilion,  to  which  this  corridor  leads,  is  finished 
Dodge's  Pom-  in  a  prevailing  tone  of  Pompeiian  red,  decorated  in  panels  by  floating 
peiian  Dan-  figures  of  Roman  dancing  girls  drawn  by  R.  L.  Dodge.  Pompeiian  bor- 
clflg  Girls.  ders,  and  a  series  of  signs  of  the  zodiac,  placed  in  the  six  window  bays 

by  Mr.  Thompson,  complete  the  mural  decorations. 

From  this  pavilion  one  enters  the  large  hall  on  the  north  side  of  the  building,  corre- 
sponding to  the  Newspaper  and  Periodical  Room,  which  is  devoted  to  the  storage,  con- 
sultation, and  exhibition  of  maps,  charts,  and  geographical  things  generally. 
Map-room.       The  library  possesses  an  enormous  collection  of  these,  and  is  bringing 
them  together  as  rapidly  as  possible,  and  preparing  proper  furniture  and 
cases  for  this  extensive  and  beautiful  room,  so  that  the  maps  and  charts  may  readily  be 
made  use  of  by  students,  and  so  that  the  most  interesting  among  them  may  be  put 
upon  public  exhibition. 

Second   Story  Rooms  and  Corridors. 

Some  of  the  finest  parts  of  the  library  are  in  the  second  story  Ascending  the  stair- 
cases you  find  yourself  in  a  broad  arcade  surrounding  the  hall.  This  is  all  in  white 
marble  of  the  same  Corinthian  style.  Lofty  coupled  columns,  with  elabo. 
Corinthian  rate  acanthus  capitals,  support  joint  entablatures,  whence  spring  the 
Arcades.  groined  arches  of  the  ceiling.  North  and  south  doorways  admit  to 

magnificent  exhibition  halls ;  the  west  windows  open  upon  a  balcony 
overlooking  the  Capitol  grounds  and  a  large  part  of  the  city,  and  on  the  east  a  beauti- 
ful stairway  leads  to  the  uppermost  galleries  of  the  Rotunda. 

A  long  time  may  be  spent  in  admiring  study  of  this  superb  hall,  whose  details  are 
elaborate  in  every  particular,  varying  constantly  in  small  points  of  ornamentation,  yet 
ever  consonant  with  the  classic  model,  and  keeping  an  artistic  uniformity  without 
monotony.  The  ornamentation  of  the  ceilings,  composed  of  stucco  in  high  relief  set  off 
with  gold  on  the  eminences  and  bright  color  in  the  recesses,  is  also  admirable,  and 
becomes  very  striking  when  applied  to  the  vaulted  canopies  of  the  great  side  halls.  The 


THE    LIBRAEY   OF   CONGRESS. 


61 


THE    FAMILY.— By  Charles  Sprague  Pearce. 

decoration  in  relief  here  is  all  the  work  of  Mr.  Martiny,  and  consists  mainly  of  little 
tiiMiro  i  LM'iiiu-rs).  exemplifying  various  conceptions  and  pursuits  indicated  by  conven- 
tional symbols,  such  a>  t  he  shepherd's  crook  and  pipes  for  Pastoral  Life  or  Arcady,  a  block 
of  paper  and  a  compass  for  Architecture,  and  so  on  ;  also  many  cartouches  and  tablets 
bearing  the  names  of  illustrious  authors. 

Here  the  spaces  surrounding  the  well  of  the  staircases  are  spoken  of  as  corridors,  of 
which  there  are  four  —  North,  South,  East,  and  West  —  each  decorated  with  brush  or 
chisel  by  some  special  arti-t  under  a  harmonious  plan.  Certain  features  are  continued 
from  one  to  the  other,  unifying  them.  The  floors  of  all  are  mosaics,  but  the  patterns 
vary.  The  ceilings  are  alike,  barrel  vaults  with  pendentives,  the  ornamentation  of 
which  is  similar  yet  varied,  while  to  each  is  assigned  a  special  orna- 
mentation in  paintings.  The  color  scheme  was  suggested  by  that  of  the  Corridors. 
greatly  admired  library  at  Siena.  Italy.  The  colors  employed  are  alike 
in  similar  parts  throughout,  and  a  uniform  arrangement  of  the  minor  decorations, 
trophies,  name-tablets,  spaces  for  mottoes,  etc.,  makes  the  whole  design  coherent,  while 
admitting  of  constant  local  diversity.  The  motive  is  renaissance. 

Kuch  corner  of  the  rectangle  of  corridors  is  brilliant  with  two  Pompeiian  panels, 
bearing  the  floating  figures  painted  by  George  W.  Maynard  to  express  the 
virtue-.     There  an- eight  in  all.  and  it  will  suffice  to  name  and  localize        Pompeiian 
them.     Beginning  at  the  left  in  each  case  they  are:    At  the  northwest  Panels. 

corner  Industry  and  ('otn-ttrd ;  at  the  southwest  corner  Temperance  and 
/'/ -ml,  1,1-1 ;   at  the  southeast  corner  Patriotism  and  Courage;  at  the  northeast  corner 
Fni'titmlf  and  .1  until', . 

Another  of  the  constant  similarities  is  the  series  of  Printers'  Marks,  which  run 
around  the  whole  circle  of  the  scheme,  in  the  penetrations  between  the  pendentives  of 
the  ceiling.      They  are  the   "engraved  devices  which  the  old  printers 
used  in  the  title-page  or  colophon  of  their  books,  partly  as  a  kind  of          Printers' 
informal  trade-mark  guarding  against  counterfeited  editions,  and  partly  Marks. 

as  a  personal  emblem."  Similar  marks  have  been  adopted  by  many 
modern  publishers,  and  these  are  represented  as  well  as  the  old  ones.  It  would  require 
a  long  time  to  describe  each  one  of  the  fifty-six  here  shown,  but  they  are  worth  careful 
examination,  and  some  are  artistic  and  beautiful,  while  others  are  highly  fanciful  or 
whimsical,  containing  a  pun  on  the  printer's  name,  or  an  indication  of  some  legend. 
These  marks  are  drawn  in  black,  and  are  enclosed  in  varying  ornamental  devices. 

The  North  Corridor  contains  the  brilliant  paintings  of  Robert  Reid  on  the  north  wall 
and  in  the  vault.    For  the  former  purpose  he  was  given  four  circular  panels,  which  he  has 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


filled  with  compositions  entitled  "H7.W"///,  Understanding,  I\/i'>ir?t  </</<•,  ami  Philosophy,  are 
also  by  Mr.  Reid,  and  the  subjects  are  typified  by  women  of  rather  more 
serious  mien,  ^h<>  arc  distinguished  by  easily  understood  symbols,  the 
Greek  temple  in  the  background  of  the  last  picture  reminding  the  ob- 
server that  philosophy  began  among  the  Greeks. 

The  same  artist  has  taken  the  Five  Senses  as  his  theme  for  the  ceiling  pictures, 
occupying  octagonal  spaces  in  the  arabesque  design  of  the  vault.  Taste.  Sight.  Smell. 
Hearing,  and  Touch  are  represented  in  order  from  west  to  east,  by  delightfully  composed 
figures  of  young  women  that  seem  to  be  supported  upon  cloud  banks  in  the  sky.  T«*i<>. 
is  surrounded  by  the  foliage  and  fruit  of  the  grape  and  is  drinking  from  a  shell.  Siyhf 
smiles  at  her  image  in  a  hand  mirror  (as  well  she  may)  and  beside  her  is  a  gorgeous  pea- 
cock. Smell  is  ensconced  in  flowers  and  inhales  the  perfume  of  a  rose,  llean/tf/  prettily 
listens  to  the  roaring  of  a  seashell  held  to  her  ear  by  graceful  hands.  T«>m-l>.  beside 
whom  sleeps  a  setter  dog,  is  holding  herself^quiet  and  feeling  the  titillation  made  by  tin- 
butterfly  that  walks  along  her  bare  arm. 

But  these  are  only  the  centerpieces  of  this  highly  embellished  ceiling.     Small  rec- 
tangles are  filled  with  sketchy  drawings  illustrating  in  a  classic  style  the  games  and  rec- 
reations of  ancient  times  —  Throwing  the  Discus,  Wrestling,  Running. 
Ancient  The  Finish,  The  Wreath  of  Victory,  and  The  Triumphal   Return— in 

Games.  order.     In  addition  to  these  are  the  Printers'  Marks,  here  of  American 

and  British  publishers,   and  a  long  series  of  trophies  of  science  and 
industry  contained  in  medallions.     Geometry  is  marked  by  a  scroll,  compass,  etc. ;  M<-tt-<n-- 
ology,   by   the  barometer,  thermometer,    etc.;    Forestry,    by  axe   and  pruning   knife; 
Navigation,  by  sailors'  implements  ;  Transportation,  by  propeller,  piston, 
Trophies.          headlight,  etc.     Above  the  west  window  are  the  two  faces  of  the  Great 
Seal  of  the  United  States,  and  two  of  R.  H.  Perry's  Sybils,  sculptured  in 
low  relief,  these  two  being  Greek  and  Oriental.     The  former  (the  Delphic  Oracle)  dic- 
tates her  prophecies  to  an  aged  scribe  ;  the  latter  (a  veiled  or  occult  per- 
Perry's  son)  utters  them  to  prostrate  adorers. 

Sybils.  Mr.  Maynard's  Pompeiian  panels  contain,  at  the  east  end,  Fortitude  and 

Justice  ;  at  the  west  end,  Industry  and  Concord. 


COURAGE. 


FORTITUDE.  JUSTICE. 

Pompeiian   Panels,  by  G.  W.  Maynard. 


PATRIOTISM. 


THE    LIBRARY   OF   CONGRESS.  63 

Many  inscriptions  are  written.     Those  iu  panels  over  doors  and  windows  are  : 

The  chief  glory  of  every  people  arises  from  its  authors. — Dr.  Johnson. 

There  is  oue  only  good,  namely,  knowledge,  and  one  only  evil,  namely,  ignorance.— Socrates. 
Knowledge  comes,  but  wisdom  lingers.—  Tennyson. 

Wisdom  is  the  principal  thing:  therefore  get  wisdom;  and  with  all  thy  getting  get  understanding. 

Proverbs  iv:  7. 

Ignorance  is  the  curse  of  God, 
Knowledge  the  wing  wherewith  we  fly  to  Heaven.— Shakspere  —  2  Henry  VI. 

How  charming  is  Divine  Philosophy.— Milton. 
Books  must  follow  sciences  and  not  sciences  books. — Bacon. 

In  books  lies  the  soul  of  the  whole  past  time.— Carlyle. 
Words  are  also  actions  and  actions  are  a  kind  of  words.— .Emerson. 

Reading  maketh  a  full  man,  conference  a  ready  man,  and  writing  an  exact  man. — Bacon. 
The  ceiling  inscriptions  are  from  Adelaide  Proctor's  "Unexpressed"  : 

Dut-lls  within  the  soul  of  every  Artist  No  real  Poet  ever  wove  in  numbers 

.More  than  all  his.-tYort  .-an  eSpTOM.  All  his  dreams. 

No  -feat  thinker  ever  lived  and  taught  you  Love  and  Life  united 

All  the  wonder  that  his  soul  received.  Are  twin  mysteries,  different,  yet  the  same. 

No  true  painter  Brer  set  on  canvas  Love  may  strive,  but  vain  is  the  endeavor 

All  the  -l..n»iis  \isi<,n  he  conceived.  All  its  boundless  riches  to  unfold. 

No  nmsieian.  Art  and  Love  speak ;  but  their  words  must  be 

Hut  he  sure  he  heard,  and  strove  to  render,  Like  sighings  of  illimitable  forests. 

Ke'-l.le  eelioes  of  eelestial  strains. 

In  the  border  of  the  arch  over  the  west  window  : 

Order  is  Heaven's  first  law. 

Memory  is  the  treasurer  and  guardian  of  all  things. 

Beauty  is  the  creator  of  the  universe. 

Opening  from  this  north  corridor  is  t lie  great  exhibition  hall,  occupying  the  whole 
breadth  of  this  part  of  the  building  and  looking  out  toward  the  Capitol  on  one  side 
and  into  die  of  the  courts  (with  a  good  view  of  the  north  book-stack)  on  the  other. 
The  ceiling  is  an  elliptical  barrel  vault,  twenty-nine  feet  above  the  floor,  divided  by 
double  ribs  springing  from  pilasters,  and  set,  as  elsewhere,  with  square  coffers  of 
stucco  colored  red  and  gold.  Ked.  indeed.  i>  the  prevailing  color  here,  emphasizing 
the  arabe-i|tiex  on  the  wall- and  adapting  itself  to  the  theme  of  decoration,  as  does  the 
blue  of  the  corresponding  exhibition  hall  on  the  south. 

The  special  decorations  consist  of  two  great  wall  paintings  rilling  the  arched  ends  of 
the  hall  above  the  doors,  where  spares  :',4  feet  long  by  !)i£  feet  high  form  the  fields  for 

single  compositions  by  (lari   Mrlrhrr. War  and  Peace.      War,   at  the 

north  end  of  the  gallery,  confronts  the  spectator  as  he  enters.  A  triumph-  MelchCfS* 
ant.  laurel-crowned  chief  of  fighting  men  of  some  primitive  time  and  "War  and 
place  is  leading  home  his  victorious  band,  the  "  dogs  of  war  "  straining  Peace." 

at  the  leash  in  advance.     A  herald  blows  a  paean  of  victory,  but  the 
horsemen  ride  over  bodies  of  the  slain,  weak  men  fall  by  the  wayside,  and  in  the  very 
foreground  of  the  scene  their  own  losses  are  suggested  in  the  dead  captain  borne  home- 
ward.    Thus  the  dread  as  well  as  the  glory  of  war  is  depicted. 

Peace  is  the  subject  of  the  painting  at  the  opposite  (south)  end,  and  it  is  equally  bold  in 
conception,  drawing,  and  color.  The  time  and  scene,  as  before,  are  carried  back  to  that 
prehistoric  state  of  society  which  is  regarded  by  the  poets  as  Arcadian  in  its  simplicity 
and  virtue.  With  no  fear  of  hostile  interruption  or  anxiety  of  mind,  the  inhabitants  of 
a  village  have  come  in  religious  procession  to  a  grove  wherein  resides  their  tutelary  deity, 
whose  image  they  are  reverently  bearing;  and  while  the  priest  chants  a  litany  they  bring 
forward  the  supplicatory  gifts  or  the  thank-offerings  each  means  to  lay  at  the  feet  of  the 
goddess.  The  fattened  ox  may  be  meant  for  a  sacrifice,  but  it  is  also  a  suggestion  of 
rural  prosperity  and  feasting. 


64 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 


The  names  inscribed  here  are  those  of  the  world's  most  famous  soldiers 
Wellington,  Washington,  Charles  Martel,  Cyrus,  Alexander,  Hanni- 
bal, Caesar,  Charlemagne,  Napoleon,  Jackson,  Sheridan,  Grant, 
Sherman,  William  the  Conqueror,  Frederick  the  Great,  Eugene, 
Marlborough,  Nelson,  Scott,  Farragut. 

This  hall  is  devoted  to  an  exhibition,  in  glass  table-cases, 
of  a  great  number  of  rare  and  curious  books  representing 
the  beginnings  of  printing  and  bookmaking,  especially 
as  relates  to  North  American  discovery  and  history 
The  display  of  early  printed  Bibles  and  missals,  and 
specimens  of  famous  special  editions  of  Bibles,  is 

also  large.   A  great  number  of  these     -t 
Early  Books,    prints  go  back  to  the  fifteenth  cen-     / 

tury,  and  some  of  them  are  of 
great  value  on  account  of  their  extreme  rarity. 
All  are  laid  open,  usually  at  the  title-page,  and 
can  be  examined  as  closely  as  is  possible  with- 
out taking  them  in  one's  hand.   This  collection 
is  added  to  and  changed  from  time  to  time  as 
new  books  of  curious  interest  are  acquired. 

The  northern  door  of  this  hall 
Northwest  opens  into  the  Northwest 
Pavilion.  Pavilion,  occupying  the  ! 

northwestern  corner  of  the  j 
library.  This  room  is  among  the  most  beau- 
tiful in  the  building.  -The  ceiling  is  richly 
coffered,  colored,  and  gilded  around  a  central 
dome  occupied  by  a  painting.  The  walls 
are  broken  by  pillars,  and  are  ornamented 
with  stucco  work,  including  a  series  of  four 

carvings,  one  in  each  of  the 
Pratt's  pendentives,  which  delicately 

'*  Seasons."     represent  the  Seasons,  and  are 

from  models  by  B.  L.  Pratt. 
These  are  repeated  in  the  three  other  corner    \ 
pavilions,  as  are  the  general  features  of  decora- 
tion, while  the  frescoes  are  individualized. 

The  special  artist  whose  work  is  seen  in  this 
pavilion  is  William  de  L.  Dodge,  who  has  made 
Ambition  the  subject  of  his  painting  in  the  dome, 
and  has  filled  the  four  tympanums  of  the  walls  with 
allegorical    scenes,   remarkable  for  the  number  of 
figures  they  include.      The  dome  picture  represents 
the  summit  of  a  mountain  which  may  be  called  Success, 
to  which  have  climbed  a   series   of  persons  along  the 

various  paths,  noble  and  ignoble,  of  human 
W.  de  L.  Dodge  endeavor.      The    Unattainable    Ideal    leaps 
Paintings.  away  into  the  air  beyond  their  reach,  never- 

theless, though  trumpeting  Fame  clutches  at  the 
bridle.     The  struggling  crowd  displays  types  of  many  forms  of  Ambi- 
tion, and  a  Jester  stands  one  side  and  laughs  at  the  useless  strife. 


Mr. 


THE    LIBRARY   OF   CONGRESS.  65 

Dodge's  wall  paintings  depict  Music  (north),  Science  (east),  Art  (south),  and  Literature 
(west).  Each  includes  a  group  of  figures  about  the  presiding  genius  of  their  art,  and 
illustrating  clearly  by  their  attitudes,  occupations,  or  implements  its  characteristics 
and  development.  Thus  in  Music  musicians,  ancient  and  modern,  are  playing  before 
Apollo,  the  god  of  song  'and  harmony.  Science,  an  ideal  winged  figure  before  a 
temple,  has  summoned  the  representatives  of  Invention,  and  the  scene  is  filled  with 
suggestions  of  scientific  discovery  —  Franklin's  kite  that  began  modern  progress  in 
electricity,  a  teakettle  as  a  reminder  of  the  origin  of  the  idea  of  the  steam  engine,  etc. 
Ai-t  displays  the  painter,  the  sculptor,  and  the  architect  at  work.  In  Literature  a 
graceful  group  illustrates  education,  the  book,  the  drama,  poetry,  the  fame  that  crowns 
the  successful  author,  and  so  forth. 

Several  large  table-cases  are  placed  in  this  room,  containing  manuscripts,  autographs, 
and  curious  prints  relating  to  the  political  history  of  the  United  States  in  great  variety. 
Many  of  these  arc  proclamations,  otliccrs' commissions,  and  similar  papers 
Hinied  by  Colonial  Governors  and  early  Presidents  and  statesmen.    There  Historic 

are  also   many  letters,   diaries,  account   books,    etc.,  of   statesmen  and      Autographs 
leaders  in  the  time  of  the  Revolution,  and  of  the  more  recent  wars,         and  MSS. 
including  that  with   Spain,  which    resulted   in   the  freeing  of  the  West 
Indies.     Perhaps  the  most  curious  relic  is  a  manuscript  volume  of  the  drawings  of  the 
United  State*  lottery  of  1779. 

The  hall  along  the  north  side  of  the  building,  opening  out  of  this  pavilion,  occupied 
by  special  collections,  must  be  passed  through  in  order  to  see  the  Northeast  Pavilion. 

This  pavilion,  somet lines  called  the   ••  Pavilion  of  the  Seals,"  occupies  the  octagonal 
northeast  corner  of  the  building.     Gilding  prevails  upon  its  walls  and  ceiling,  and  sets 
olT    the   illustrative    paintinirs  of    W.  B.  Van   Ingen  personifying  the 
Kxecutive   Department*.     The  7 'no* '//•//  and  >Y»///  departments  are  typi-          Northeast 
tied  in  the  west  tympanum  :   the   M'.//-  and  .\,n'y  in  the  south;  Agriculture  Pavilion. 

and  Intirior    in    the   east;  and  Ju^ti>;    and    the    /W   Otfh;  in  the  north. 
All  of  the  details  are  symbolic  and  easily  understood,  except  the  cypress  trees,  which 
are  merely  decorative,  and  stand  in  jars  copied  from  those  made  by  the  Zuni  Indians. 
The  seals  of  the  departments  are  cleverly  introduced,  and  in  the  dome 
the  great  seal  o!'  the  I'ni ted  States  forms  the  center  of  an  elaborate  and    Van  Ingen's 
beautiful  circular   painting  by  Garnsey.  framed  in  an  inscription  from          "Seals." 
Lincoln's    Gettysburg    address:     "That  this  nation,  under  God,    shall 
have  a  new  birth  of  freedom  ;  and  that  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  for 
the  people,  shall  not  perish  from  the  earth."     Other  sentiments  inscribed  here  are  : 

Tis  our  true  policy  to  steer  clear  of  permanent  alliance  with  any  portion  of  the  foreign  world. 

—  Washington. 

Let  our  object  be  our  country,  our  whole  country,  and  nothing  but  our  country. — Webster. 

Thank  God,  I  also  am  an  American. —  1Vil>xt<  r. 

Equal  and  exact  justice  to  all  men,  of  whatever  state  or  persuasion,  religious  or  political  —  peace, 
commerce,  and  honest  friendship  with  all  nations  —  entangling  alliance  with  none. — Jefferson. 

The  agricultural  interest  of  the  country  is  connected  with  every  other,  and  supe- 
rior in  importance  to  them  all.— Jackson.  Inscriptions. 

Let  us  have  peace.— Grant. 

The  aggregate  happiness  of  society  is,  or  ought  to  be,  the  end  of  all  government. — Washington. 

To  be  prepared  for  war  is  one  of  the  most  effective  means  of  preserving  peace.—  Washington. 

The  visitor  may  now  return  to  the  Main  Entrance  Hall  and  devote  attention  next  to 
the  West  Corridor.  This  is  immediately  over  the  Entrance  Vestibule,  and  has  been  dec- 
orated in  a  very  interesting  manner  by  Walter  Shirlaw,  who  has  found  his  motive  in 
The  Sciences.  Says  Mr.  Small  : 


66  PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 

"  Each  science  is  represented  by  a  female  figure  about  7i  feet  in  height.  The  figures 
are  especially  interesting,  aside  from  their  artistic  merit,  for  the  variety  of  symbolism 
by  which  every  science  is  distinguished  from  the  others,  and  for  the 
Shiflaw  subtlety  with  which  much  of  this  symbolism  is  expressed.  Not  only  is 

Paintings.  each  accompanied  by  various  appropriate  objects,  but  the  lines  of  the 
drapery,  the  expression  of  the  face  and  body,  and  the  color  itself,  are, 
wherever  practicable,  made  to  subserve  the  idea  of  the  science  represented.  Thus  the 
predominant  colors  used  in  the  figure  of  Chemistry  —  purple,  blue,  and  red  —  are  the 
ones  which  occur  most  often  in  chemical  experimenting.  ...  In  the  matter  of 
line,  again,  the  visitor  will  notice  a  very  marked  difference  between  the  abrupt,  broken 
line  used  in  the  drapery  of  Archaeology,  and  the  moving,  flowing  line  in  that  of 
Physics." 

The  list  of  these  paintings,  beginning  on  the  west  at  the  left,  is  as  follows  :  Zoology, 
clad  in  a  pelt,  and  with  the  lion  of  the  desert  beside  her ;  Physics,  typifying  and 
expressing  in  color  and  flowing  form  the  reign  of  fire  and  electricity ;  Mathematics  is 
almost  nude — the  exact  truth;  Geology  has  gathered  specimens  and  fossils  from  the 
rocks.  On  the  east :  Archeology •,  in  Roman  costume,  consults  history,  and  has  beside 
her  a  vase  made  by  Zufii  Indians  ;  Botany  seems  analyzing  a  water  lily  ;  Astronomy 
suggests  her  study  by  globe  and  planet  and  the  lens  of  a  telescope,  and  Chemistry  is 
accompanied  by  symbols  of  her  investigations. 

Agreeably  to  this  motive,  the  names  of  distinguished  men  of  science  are  emblazoned 
upon  the  wall :  Cuvier  the  zoologist,  Rumford  the  physicist,  La  Grange  the  mathema- 
tician, Lyell  the  geologist,  Schliemann  the  Greek  archaeologist,  Linnaeus  the  father  of 
botany,  Copernicus  the  astronomer,  and  Lavoisier  the  chemist. 

Three  medallions  in  the  ceiling  are  filled  by  W.  B.  Van  Ingen  with  sketchy  draw- 
ings idealizing  the  Arts  :  Sculpture  chisels  at  a  bust  of  Washington  ;  Painting  is 
employed  at  her  easel  ;  and  Architecture  is  busied  at  the  plans  of  a  building. 

The  Printers'  Marks  here  are  German. 

The  inscriptions  on  the  ceiling  and  over  the  windows  are  these  : 

The  first  creature  of  God  was  the  light  of  sense  ;  the  last  was  the  light  of  reason. 
The  light  shineth  in  darkness,  and  the  darkness  comprehendeth  it  not. 

All  are  but  parts  of  one  stupendous  whole, 
Whose  body  nature  is  and  God  the  soul. 

In  nature  all  is  useful,  all  is  beautiful. 

Art  is  long,  and  Time  is  fleeting.  —Longfellow. 

The  history  of  the  world  is  the  biography  of  great  men.— Carlyle. 

Books  will  speak  plain  when  counsellors  blanch.— Bacon. 

Glory  is  acquired  by  virtue  but  preserved  by  letters.— Petrarch. 

The  foundation  of  every  state  is  the  education  of  its  youth.— Dionysius. 

The  South  Corridor,  at  the  right  of  the  staircase,  is  especially  characterized  by  Ben- 
son's bright  and  dainty  paintings.     The  Four  Seasons  occupy  circular  panels  upon  the 
wall,  and  excite  universal  admiration.     "Each  is  represented,"  says  a 
Benson  critic,    "by  a  beautiful  half-length  figure  of  a  young  woman,  with  no 

Paintings.        attempt,  however,  at  any  elaborate  symbolism  to  distinguish  the  season 
which  she  typifies.     Such  distinction  as  the  painter  has  chosen  to  indi- 
cate is  to  be  sought  rather  in  the  character  of  the  faces,  or  in  the  warmer  or  colder  col- 
oring of  the  whole  panel —  in  a  word,  in  the  general  artistic  treatment." 

Mr.  Benson  has  also  found  space  among  the  rich  arabesques  of  the  ceiling  ornament 


THE    LIBRARY   OF   CONGRESS.  67 

for  three  hexagonal  paintings,  given  to  the  Graces,  in  which  the  use  of  white  is  most 

skillfully  and  pleasingly  made  prominent.     Aglaia  is  here  regarded  as 

the  goddess  or  patroness  of  husbandry  and  pastoral  life,  and  characterized  The 

by  the  shepherd's  crook  ;   Thalia  stands,  of  course,  for  art,  and  by  her  Graces. 

side  is  seen  a  lyre,  suggesting  music,  and  a  Greek  temple  as  a  symbol  of 

architecture  ;  while  Enphmsyne  is  the  grace  of  graces  —  Beauty  —  and  holds  a  mirror 

up  to  her  own  features.  ^^^^^^^^^^^ 

Near  each  end  of  the  vault  ^flHHHMI    H^BV  a  r  e  rectangular  Modern 

panels  representing  a  "scrim-    ^ffftm*$  '  ^&    *^^^k.  ma£e  "   a^  foot-  Games. 

ball,  and  a  baseball  game    ^^fmmi  ^Ml^wk    —  m  °  ''  ''  '  " 

games  as  compared  with  l^a^.    tne   ancu'nt   recreations 

depicted  in  the  North    J  f  j     Corridor.     Mr.  Perry's 

bas-reliefs  are  contin-       «^  Nlfc^*  uec*  at   tlie  west  enc* 

IK  -re.  in  two  subjects    I  ._£,;  ^a^ala^li^E     also  expressing  ancient 

prophecy.    One  is  the    I    •''  'M;^^^  '     Cumsean  or    Roman 

sibyl  —  a  fearsome  old    I    H  &'  "-*-'  f.        woman  who  reads  from 

a  sibylline  scroll  an  an-  'I    swer  to  the  questions 

of    her  applicants  —  a'  *  R  o  m  a  n 

general  and  a  nude  woman^  ^  The    other,  Perry's 

in  similar  pose,  represents  a^i^^*  ihk  r  "wise  woman"  Sibyls. 

or  vala  of  the  Norsemen.  "Tr^  Maynard's  Pom- 

1»»  iian  panels  in  this  corridor  show   the     Virtues,    Patriotism 

and  Courage   at  the  east  end,  and  at  the  west  end  Temperance 

By  F.  W.  Benson. 

and  • 


The  Printers'  Marks  are  French  ;  and  a  series  of  trophy  medallions  corresponds  to 
that  of  the  North  Corridor,  showing  the  crafts  of  the  Potter,  Glassmaker,  Carpenter, 
Blacksmith,  and  Mason.  The  inscriptions  here  read  : 

Beholding  the  bright  countenance  of  Truth  in  the  quiet  and  still  air  of  delightful  studies.  —  Milton. 
The  true  University  of  these  days  is  a  Collection  or  Books.  —  Carlyle. 

Nature  is  the  art  of  God.  —  Sir  Thomas  Browne. 

There  is  no  work  of  genius  which  has  not  been  the  delight  of  mankind.  —Lowell. 

It  is  the  mind  that  makes  the  man,  and  our  vigor  is  in  our  immortal  soul.  —  Ovid. 

They  are  never  alone  that  are  accompanied  with  noble  thoughts.  —  Sir  Philip  Sidney 

Man  is  one  world,  and  hath  another  to  attend  him.  —  Herbert. 

Tongues  in  trees,  books  in  the  running  brooks, 

Sermons  in  stones,  and  good  in  everything.—  Shakspere  —  As  You  Like  It. 

The  true  Shekinah  is  man.  —  Chrysostom. 

Only  the  actions  of  the  just 

Smell  sweet  and  blossom  in  the  dust.—  James  Shirley. 

Man  raises  but  time  weighs. 

Beneath  the  rule  of  men  entirely  great 
The  pen  is  mightier  than  the  sword. 

The  noblest  motive  is  the  public  good. 

A  little  learning  is  a  dangerous  thing  ; 

Drink  deep,  or  taste  not  the  Pierian  spring  —  Pope. 

Learning  is  but  an  adjunct  to  ourself  .  —  Love's  Labor  Lost. 
Studies  perfect  nature,  and  are  perfected  by  experience.  —  Bacon. 

Dreams,  books,  are  each  a  world  ;  books,  we  know, 

Are  a  substantial  world,  both  pure  and  good.  —Wordsworth. 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 


The  fault  is  not  in  our  stars, 

But  in  ourselves,  that  we  are  underlings.  —  Shakspere  —  Juli us  Ccesar. 

The  universal  cause 
Acts  to  one  end,  but  acts  by  various  laws.  —  Pope. 

Creation's  heir,  the  world,  the  world  is  mine!  —  Goldsmith. 

Vain,  very  vain,  the  weary  search  to  find 

That  bliss  which  only  centers  in  the  mind.  —  Goldsmith. 


Wide  doors  admit  from  this  South  Corridor  into 
the  exhibition    hall   corresponding    to  that  on  the 
north  in  its  shape  and  plan  of  decoration,   except 
that  the  prevailing  tone  here  is  blue.     The  two 
great  mural  paintings  are  the  work  of  Kenyon 
Cox,  who  has  taken  as  his  subject  for  the  south 
end  the  Sciences  and  for  the  north  end  the  Arts. 
The  composition  and  grouping  of  the  two  are 
somewhat    alike  —  the  central  figure  in  both 
being  seated  upon  a  kind  of  throne,  supported 
by  a  classic  balustrade  extending  each  way  to 
the  limits  of  the  canvas,  along  which  the  sub- 
ordinate figures  are  displayed. 
Cox's  In   The  Sciences,  which  faces 

"  Arts  and       the  entrance,  the  central  figure 
Sciences."        is    Astronomy,    with   Physics 
and  Mathematics,  distinguished 

by  conventional  symbols,   at  her  right ;  be-  ^| 

yond  them  geometrical  figures  seem  merely 
symbolic    accessories    until    close    attention 
shows    that  they  spell  the   artist's   name  — 
KENYON  Cox.       At  the  right  of  the  panel 
Botany   and    Zoology   approach,    and   behind 
them  are  seen  shells,  minerals,  etc.      In   The 
Arts,  at  the  north  end  of  the  room,  Poetry  sits 
enthroned  in  the  center,  in  an  attitude  of  exalta- 
tion, which  is  communicated  to  two  little  gen- 
iuses at  her  feet.    At  her  right  are  a  musician 
and  an  architect,  while  at  her  left  sit  Sculpture 
and  Painting — all  typified  by  women,  graceful    l 
and  dignified  in  mien,  lovely  in  face.    The  coloring 
of  these  paintings  is  particularly  rich  and  harmon- 
ious with  the  prevalent  blue  and  gold  of  the  room. 

This  room   is   devoted   to  an  extensive  series  of 
prints  illustrating  the  processes  and  development  of  the    ' 
graphic    arts  —  etching,    photography,    and  printing  of 
photogravures  and  half-tones ;  and  the  names  written  upon 
the  wall  tablets  are  those  of  men  distinguished  in  science  and 
art  —  Leibnitz,  Galileo,  Aristotle,  Ptolemy,  Dalton,  Hipparchus, 
Herschel,  Kepler,  Lamarck,  and  Helmholz  for  the  former  ; 
Wagner,  Mozart,  Homer,  Milton,  Raphael,  Rubens,  Vitruvius, 
sard,  Phidias,  and  Michaelangelo  for  art. 

South  of  this  hall  a  great  door  opens  into  the  Southwest 


and 
Man- 


Pavilion,  which 


THE    LIBRARY   OF   CONGRESS.  69 

has  been  styled  "Pavilion  of  the  Discoverers,"  from  the  theme  of  its  decorations.     Like 
the  other  corner  rooms  it  is  octagonal  and  its  ceiling  has  a  dome,  the  disk 
of  which  is  decorated  by  George  W.  Maynard  with  an  allegorical  design        Southwest 
embracing  four   stalwart    female    figures    typifying    National    Virtues  Pavilion. 

—  Courage,   roughly  mail-clad   and  armed  with  shield    and   war-club  ; 
Vtilm\  a  warrior  of  more   refined  type,  with  a  sword;  Fortitude,  an  unarmed  figure 
bearing  an  architectural  column  as  a  symbol  of  stability  ;  and  Achievement,  wearing 
the  laurel  crown. 

Each  of  these  figures  is  related  in  thought  to  one  of  the  four  great  tympanum  paint- 
ings, also  by  Maynard,  in  which  are  idealized  the  succession  of  Adventure,  Discovery, 
( 'onquest,  and  at  last  Civilization.     The  series  begins  at  the  east  side  with 
Adventure,  and  each  consists  of  three  splendid  female  figures  whose  Maynard 

action  and  accompaniments  express  the  artist's  conceptions.  It  will  be  Paintings. 
noticed,  too,  that  it  is  not  adventure  and  conquest  in  general  which  is 
portrayed,  but  that  which  led  to  the  discovery  and  civilization  of  America,  and  conse- 
quently all  the  accessories  are  English  and  Spanish,  and  the  many  names  recorded  are 
those  of  the  adventurers,  navigators,  soldiers,  priests,  missionaries,  and  statesmen  who 
successively  figured  in  the  development  of  North  America  from  Spanish  and  British 
colonies  to  the  independence  and  prosperity  of  the  United  States. 

In  addition  to  this  very  fine  series  of  paintings,  the  pendentives  here  (as  in  the  other 
pavilions)  bear  a  notable  series  of  circular  plaques  in  low  relief,  expressing  by  seated, 
nearly  nude,  female  figures,  the  Four  Seasons,  modeled  by  Bela  L.  Pratt. 
Spring  sows  seed,   her  garment   blown  by  the  vernal  winds  ;    Summer,  Plaques. 

older,   sits  quiet  among  the  poppies;    Autumn,  now  mature,  nurses  a 
child;  and  \Vintii  gathers  fagots  to  warm  her  aged  body.     The  garlands  over  each  cor- 
respond to  the  season.     The  orderly  manner  in  which  the  decorations  of  this  and  the 
other  pavilion-;,  both  painted  and  sculptured,  have  been  made  to  correspond  with  one 
another  and  with  the  architectural   requirements  of  the  room,  and  to  carry  out  and 
enforce  by  every  detail  the  central  idea  belonging  to  each,  makes  them  among  the 
most  remarkable  examples  of  decoration  in  the  world,  and  merits  care- 
ful study.     This  pavilion  is  devoted  to  exhibition  cases  for  the  display  Book 
of  the  growth  and  development  of  book  illustration  from  the  first  rude     Illustration. 
efforts  in  illumination  and  in  wood-cutting  to  the  finest  modern  examples. 

The  eastern  door  of  this  pavilion  opens  into  the  Exhibition  Hall  along  the  south 
side  of  the  building,  which  is  quietly  decorated  in  plain  tints,  and  devoted  to  an 
extensive  exhibit  of  the  art  of  making  pictures  mechanically.  It  is  known,  therefore, 
as  the  Print  Room.  Here  one  may  see  a  great  series  of  prints,  illustrating  the  devel- 
opment of  lithography  and  the  processes  a  lithograph  goes  through,  whether  printed 
in  monotint  or  in  varied  colors.  Also  early  and  fine  modern  examples  of  every  sort  of 
engraving  upon  wood,  copper,  and  steel.  In  addition  to  this  the  library  aims  to  show 
an  example  of  the  work  of  every  prominent  American  etcher  and  engraver.  This  hall 
is  illuminated  by  skylights. 

The  Southeast  Pavilion,  called  "Pavilion  of  the  Elements,"  is  at  the  Southeast 
(astern  extremity  of  this  room  and  is  decorated  by  II.  L.  Dodge.  In  Pavilion. 

each  of  the  four  tympanums  he  has  painted  a  representation  of  one  of 
the  four  Elements—  to  the  east,  Earth;  to  the  north,  Air;  to  the  west,  Fire;  to  the 
south,    Water.     Each   consists   of  three   figures,    and  the   allegory  and  f 

symbolism  in  each  case  are  readily  interpreted  by  the  beholder.     In  the   ^t*       l/KIgc^S 
dome  Mr.  Dodge,  in  conjunction  with  Mr.  Garnsey,  has  expressed  the       tlCfllClltS. 
same  idea  in  another  way,  figured  by  Apollo  and  the  Sun  for  a  centerpiece,  surrounded 
by  medallions  and  cartouches  for  the  elements. 


70 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 


The  series  of  handsome  but   not  especially  notable  apartments  along  the  eastern 
front  of  the  building  are  at  present  occupied  on  the  south  by  Music  and  on  the  north 

by  the  Smithsonian  collections. 

Main  Returning  to  the  Hall,  the  East  Corridor  and  Entrance  to  the  Rotunda 

Entrance*         Galleries  remain  to  be  considered. 

The   East   Corridor,   crossing  the  head  of  the  staircases,    has   penden- 
tive   figures  by  Geo.   R.   Barse,   Jr.,    illustrating    the    topic    Literature,    and    com- 
prising   Lyrica  (Lyric    poetry),    Tragedy,    Comedy,    and  History,    on 
Barse  the    east    wall ;    and  Love,    Erotica  (poetry,  Tradition,     Fancy,    and 

Paintings.  Romance,  on  the  west  wall.  They  are  simply  expressed  in  the  forms 
of  attractive  women,  each  having  the  well-known  conventional 
symbols.  The  center  of  the  vault  exhibits  three  more  striking  medallion  paintings 
by  Wm.  A.  Mackay,  giving  ^^^^^•^^gj^^^^  the  three  stages  of  the  Life 
of  Man  as  represented  ^^^H  Jf^\  H^^w  by  tlie  Fates  —  Clotho, 

Lachesis,  and  Atro-    _^JM  '  t™W  Pos<      The    allegory 

becomes    plainer     >^B  fc^when    one    reads 

the  accompan-    ^flj  H^^  ^'m^     inscrip- 

tions. Thus    J§K  ^mL.   Beneath  the 

Clotho,          M<  JtJtL  \  .    -    '        B\    with   her 


COMUS.  — By  H.  O 

distaff  and  the  baby  upon  her  knee,  spinning  the  thread  of  life,  are  the  words  : 


Mackay's 
"Fates." 


For  a  web  begun  God  sends  thread. 

Lachesis,  the  weaver,  is  seen  in  the  second  picture,  with  shuttle  and  loom. 
The  child  has  become  a  man,  the  stream  a  river,  the  twig  a  tree  of 
which  the  man  is  gathering  the  fruit ;  and  we  read 

The  web  of  life  is  a  mingled  yarn, 
Good  and  ill  together. 

Then  comes  Atropos,  severing  with  her  fateful  shears  the  old  man's  life  thread  as  he 
pauses  beneath  the  withered  tree  to  gaze  at  the  setting  sun  ;  and  here  are  written  the 
words  of  Milton  in  "Lycidas"  : 

Comes  the  blind  Fury  with  th1  abhorred  shears. 
And  slits  the  thin-spun  life. 

The  Printers'  Marks  are  those  of  Italian  and  Spanish  houses  ;  while  the  names  of 
American  printers,  type  founders,  and  press  builders  are  to  be  read  upon  the  mural 
tablets  :  Green,  Day,  Franklin,  Thomas,  Bradford  ;  and  Clymer,  Adams,  Gordon,  Hoe, 
and  Bruce. 

The  Entrance  to  the  Rotunda  Galleries  is  from  the  middle  of  this  East  Corridor  by  a 
branching  stairway  of  marble.  In  the  bays  beside  it  are  two  charming  paintings  by 
W.  B.  Van  Ingen,  illustrating  Joy  and  Sadness  as  suggested  by  Milton's  poems 
"  L' Allegro"  and  "II  Penserose."  The  former  is  a  light-haired,  cheerful  woman, 
among  flowers  and  happy  in  the  sunshine,  near  which  is  quoted : 


THE    LIBRAEY   OF   CONGRESS.  71 

Come,  thou  goddess  fair  and  free, 
In  Heaven  ycleped  Euphrosyne, 
And  by  men,  heart-easing  Mirth. 

Haste  thee,  nymph,  and  bring  with  thee  Ydfl  IngCfl 

Jest  and  youthful  jollity,  Painting's 

Quips,  and  cranks,  and  wanton  wiles, 
Nods  and  becks,  and  wreathed  smiles, 
Such  as  hang  on  Hebe's  cheek, 
And  love  to  live  in  dimple  sleek. 

The  other,  a  dark-visaged  woman,  expresses  in  her  pensive  face,  mien,  and  surround- 
ings sadness  and  introspection  : 

Hail  !  thou  Goddess,  sage  and  holy  ! 
Hail,  divinest  Melancholy  ! 

***** 

Come  ;  but  keep  thy  wonted  state, 
\Vitli  even  step  and  musing  gait, 
And  looks  commercing  with  the  skies, 
Thy  rapt  soul  sitting  in  thine  eyes : 
There,  held  in  holy  passion  still, 
Forget  thyself  to  marble.    .    .    . 

At  the  head  of  the  stairs,  on  the  wall  landing,  is  Elihu  Vedder's  colossal  mosaic  (in 
glass)  of  Minerva  — Goddess  of  Wisdom  — perhaps  the  grandest  single  object  among  the 
library  decorations.      This  mosaic  forms  an  arched  panel,  l-Vo  IVrt  bigh 
and  '.»  IVrt  wide,  bordered  by  a  design  of  laurel  branches.     The  figure  of       The  Ycddcr 
Minerva    is   that    of    a    magnificent  —  almost   masculine  —  woman,    a  Mosaic. 

chit  'Harness  whose    armor  has  been  partly  laid  aside,   and  who  now 
addresses  her  mind  to  the  arts  of  peace.    The  sun  of  prosperity 

is  bursting  through    the          ^^^^^^^^^^^         war-clouds,    and    winged 
Victory    beside    her       ^^^^  j^^^^      holds  forth  with  one 

hand    the    olive       J^^Sk    t&9fa  ^^N,        brancb>   while 

with  the  other     ^^1  '    ^J  H^     8  b  e    disPense8 

the   rewards      ^£.  /  w  '9  Bk       to  the  con- 

querors.      &  ^^   Still    hold- 

ing  her      ^f'.  3k    protecting 

spear,         <£'•*  ^L     she  now 


ENDYMION.— By  H.O.Walker. 

contemplates  with  attention  and  benignant  gaze  an  unfolded  scroll  upon  which  she 
reads  the  names  of  branches  of  knowledge  —  Law,  Statistics,  Sociology,  Philosophy, 
and  the  Sciences.  The  whole  is  grand  and  stately  in  conception,  bold  in  drawing,  and 
glowing  in  color,  especially  when  seen  by  electric  light. 

Passing  up  this  staircase,  and  turning  either  to  the  left  or  right  (where  there  are 
entrances  to  elevators),  the  visitor  passes  through  doors  admitting  him  to  the  public 
gallery  of  the  Rotunda. 


72  PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 

The  Rotunda. 

The  Eotunda  is  a  grand,  octagonal  hall,  100  feet  in  diameter,  occupying  the  whole 
center  of  the  building,  and  rising  unobstructed  from  the  main  floor  to  the  canopy  within 

the  dome  —  a  height  of  125  feet.  The  walls  are  outwardly  of  Maryland 
The  Rotunda,  granite,  immensely  thickened  by  courses  of  brick,  and  lined  with  African 

and  Italian  marbles. 

The  dome  is  carried  upon  eight  massive  piers,  connected  by  noble  arches,  each  arch 
filled  above  the  capitals  of  its  supporting  pillars  with  semicircular  windows  of  clear 
glass,  thirty-two  feet  wide.  The  broad  intrados  of  each  arch  is  filled  with  sunken 
panels  of  color  and  gilded  rosettes,  in  conformity  with  the  general  design  of  ceiling 
treatment.  A  heavy  entablature  of  classic  ornament  (designed  by  Mr.  Casey),  in  high 
relief,  with  all  the  prominences  gilded,  runs  all  around  the  rotunda,  into  every  alcove, 

and  out  around  all  the  eight  piers.  Each  of  the  eight  bays  beneath  this 
Dome  and  entablature  is  filled  with  a  two-storied  loggia  of  yellow  variegated  Siena 
Galleries.  marble,  the  lower  story  consisting  of  three  arches  divided  by  square 

engaged  pillars  with  Corinthian  capitals,  the  second  story  of  seven  lesser 
arches  supported  by  small  pillars  of  Ionic  style,  extremely  graceful ;  and  above  all  is 
carried  an  open  gallery  protected  by  a  balustrade.  These  loggias  and  the  upper  galler- 
ies, nearly  forty  feet  from  the  floor,  run  all  around  the  rotunda ;  and  it  is  from  these, 
reached  from  the  grand  staircase,  and  overlooking  the  whole  room,  that  the  sight-seeing 
public  gaze  upon  the  apartment  and  its  busy  workers,  who  are  not  permitted  to  be  dis- 
turbed by  the  intrusion  of  casual  visitors.  These  loggias  form  the  eight  sides  of  the 
hall,  the  two  entrances  to  which  are  further  distinguished  by  facades  of  Siena  marble, 
which  are  perfect  examples  of  the  Corinthian  style.  Between  each  two  adjacent  loggias, 
filling  the  corners  of  the  octagon,  and  forming  the  inner  face  of  the  eight  great  pro- 
jecting piers,  that  support  the  arches  and  sustain  the  dome,  are  splendid  columns  and 
faces  of  two  shades  of  dark  Numidian  marble,  crowned  by  golden  Corinthian  capitals, 
and  standing  upon  pedestals  of  the  chocolate-tinted  marble  of  East  Tennessee. 

On  the  summit  of  each  of  these  columns  stands  a  colossal  emblematic  statue,  the 
eight  representing  the  principal  departments  of  human  thought  and  development ;  they 
are  of  plaster,  toned  an  ivory-white,  ten  and  one-half  feet  in  height,  and  sixty  feet  from 
the  floor,  and  beginning  at  the  right  of  the  entrance,  are  as  follows  :  Heligion,  by  Th. 
Bauer ;  Commerce,  by  J.  Flanagan  ;  History,  by  D.  C.  French ;  Art,  by  Dozzi,  of 
France,  after  sketches  by  Aug.  St.  Gaudens  ;  Philosophy,  by  B.  L.  Pratt ;  Poetry,  by 
Ward  ;  Law,  by  P.  W.  Bartlett,  and  Science,  by  J.  Donoghue.  Each  is  distinguished 
by  some  symbol,  and  above  each,  on  a  tablet  supported  by  child-figures  modeled  by 
Martiny,  are  inscriptions,  chosen  by  President  Eliot  of  Harvard  University,  each  appro- 
priate to  its  theme,  thus  : 

Above  the  figure  of  Religion, 

What  doth  the  Lord  require  of  thee,  but  to  do  justly,  and  to  love  mercy,  and  to  walk  humbly 
with  thy  God.— Micah  vi:  8. 

Above  the  figure  of  Commerce, 

We  taste  the  spices  of    Arabia,    yet  never   feel   the   scorching  sun  which   brings   them 
forth. — Anonymous. 

Above  the  figure  of  History, 

One  God,  one  law,  one  element, 

And  one  far-off  divine  event, 

To  which  the  whole  creation  moves.— Tennyson. 


THE    LIBRARY   OF   CONGRESS. 


73 


Above  the  figure  of  Art, 

As  one  lamp  lights  another,  nor  grows  less, 
So  nobleness  enkindleth  nobleness.—  Lowell. 

Above  the  figure  of  Philosophy, 

The  enquiry,  knowledge,  and  belief  of  truth  is  the  sovereign  good  of  human  nature.—  Bacon. 

Above  the  figure  of  Poetry, 

Hither,  as  to  their  fountain,  other  stars 
Repairing,  in  their  golden  urns  draw  light.  —  Milton. 

Above  the  figure  of  Lair. 

Of  law  there  can  be  no  less  acknowledged  than  that  her  voice  is  the  harmony  of  the  world. 

-  Hooker. 
Above  the  figure  of  Scicm;  . 

Tin-  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God  ;  and  the  firmament  showeth  His  handiwork. 

-Psalms  xix:  1. 

Sixteen  portrait  statues,  personally  illustrating  the  great  lines  of  creative  thought 
above  enumerated,  stand  along  the  balustrade  of  the  gallery  :  they  are  of  bronze,  and  in 
pairs,  one  on  each  side  of  and  overlooking  that  one  of  the  eight  colossal  ideal  statues 
above  described  of  which  its  original  was  a  type.  The  list  is  as  follows  : 

Typical  of  Religion  :    Moses,    an    ideal   figure,  by 
Niehaus;  and  St.  Paul,  an  ideal  figure,  by  Donoghue. 
Comme>ce:  Columbus,  by  Paul  W.  Bartlett  ;  and  Robert 
Fulton,  by  Ed  ('.  Poiter.     Ili^n-y:  Her- 
odotus.  modeled  after  Greek  sculptures,  Rotunda 

by  D.  C.  French  ;   and  Gibbon,  by  Nie-  Statues. 

hail-.  Art:  Micliaelan^elo.  by  P.  W. 
Bartlett  ;  and  Beethoven,  by  Baur.  Philosophy:  Plato, 
from  (iivck  IMISN.  by  J.  J.  Boyle  ;  and  Bacon,  also  by 
Uoyle.  I'm  fry:  Homer,  after  an  ideal  bust  of  ancient 
times.  l>y  Louis  St.  Gaudens  ;  and  Shakspere,  by  Mac- 
monnies,  modeled  after  the  Stratford  bust  and  the  por- 
trait in  the  first  edition  of  the  Plays.  Law:  Solon, 
from  Greek  data,  by  Ruckstuhl  ;  and  Chancellor  Kent, 
by  Geoinv  IjK>ell.  St'ii-nce:  Newton,  by  C.  E.  Dallin  ; 
and  Joseph  Henry,  by  H.  Adams.  Except  the  idealiza- 
tions mentioned  above,  all  are  from  authentic  portraits, 
including  details  of  costume,  etc. 

The  great  clock  of  the  rotunda,  over  the  door,  was 
modeled  by  J.  Flanagan.  "The  clock  itself  is  con- 
structed of  various  brilliantly  colored  precious  marbles, 
and  is  sat  against  a  background  of  mosaic,  on  which 
are  displayed,  encircling  the  clock,  the  signs  of  the 

,.          .     J'  mu       v-         i  i--\- 

zodiac   in   bronze   .    .     .    The  hands,    which  are   also 
gilded,  are  jeweled  with  semi-precious  stones." 

The  spandrels  or  triangular  wall  spaces  between  the  arches  are  adorned  by  emblem- 
atic figures  in  relief  and  brought  out  by  color,  and  the  whole  is  capped  by  an  encircling 
entablature  of  classic  beauty,  whence  springs  the  superb  canopy  of  the  arch,  filled  with 
rich  ornamentation  to  its  crown,  beneath  which,  in  the  collar  of  the  dome,  is  an  exceed- 
ingly interesting  and  beautiful  series  of  figures  in  fresco,  by  E.  H.  Blashfield,  symbol- 
izing the  relations  of  the  nations  to  human  progress  —  the  Evolution  of  Civilization. 


PHILOSOPHY.  _  By  Bela  L    Pratt. 


74  PICTORIAL   GUIDE   TO   WASHINGTON. 

This  glorious  fresco  consists  of  twelve  seated  figures,  men  and  women,  personifying 
the  great  nations  of  history.  All  are  winged,  but  this  fact  is  hardly  noticeable,  yet  of 

much  importance  in  uniting  into  a  whole  the  detached  figures.  Four  of 
Blashfield's  them  are  more  conspicuous  by  their  lighter  colors  than  the  rest,  and  they 
Dome  are  not  only  those  of  most  importance  historically  — Egypt,  Rome,  Italy, 

Frescos.  and  England  —  but  they  mark  the  cardinal  points  of  the  compass. 

Egypt,  standing  at  the  dawn  of  civilization,  is  appropriately  placed  at  the 
east,  and  is  a  male  figure  of  an  ancient  Egyptian,  holding  a  tablet.  Judea  is  a  woman  in 
an  attitude  of  prayer,  whose  parted  robe  displays  the  vestment  of  a  Jewish  high  priest; 
a  pillar  beside  her  is  inscribed,  Leviticus,  xix:  18,  "Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as 
thyself."  Greece  is  personified  by  a  beautiful,  diadem-crowned  woman.  Rome  by  a 
warrior  in  the  armor  of  a  centurion,  resting  his  hands  upon  the  Roman  fasces.  For 
Islam  is  chosen  an  Arab,  representing  the  learned  Moorish  race  and  Moslem  power.  Next 
to  him  is  a  female  figure  personifying  the  Middle  Ages,  typifying  by  her  sword,  casque, 
and  cuirass  the  great  institution  of  chivalry,  while  the  rule  of  the  medieval  Roman 
Catholic  Church  is  suggested  by  the  papal  tiara  and  keys.  By  her  sits  white-robed  Italy 
— the  mother  of  the  fine  arts,  whose  symbols  she  has;  and  turned  toward  her  is  a  printer 
of  the  early  days,  standing  for  Germany,  where  this  art  originated.  Spain  is  a  cavalier 
or  navigator,  eager  for  war,  adventure,  and  discovery.  Next  him  sits  a  gracious  woman, 
representative  of  England,  recalling  in  her  costume  the  literary  glories  of  the  Elixa- 
bethan  age  and  displaying  an  open  folio  of  Shakspere's  plays.  France  is  next —  Repub- 
lican France  —  sitting  upon  a  cannon  but  holding  out  the  Declaration  of  the  Rights  of 
Man.  The  twelfth  figure  completes  the  circle  —  America,  typified  in  an  Engineer,  con- 
sulting a  scientific  book,  while  in  front  of  him  stands  an  electric  dynamo. 

This  series  thus  has  a  double  significance  —  each  personage  standing  not  only  for  a 
nation  geographically  and  historically  considered,  but  for  the  genius  or  characteristic 
idea  of  each.  '  •  Thus, "  remarks  Mr.  R.  Cortissoz,  ' '  Egypt  is  the  representative  of  written 

records,  Judea  typifies  religion,  Greece  is  the  standard-bearer  of  philoso- 
Significance.  phy,  Rome  bears  the  same  relation  toward  administration,  Islam  stands  for 

physics,  the  Middle  Ages  are  figured  as  the  fountain-head  of  modern 
languages,  Italy  is  represented  as  the  source  of  the  fine  arts,  Germany  as  sponsor  for  the 
art  of  printing,  Spain  as  the  first  great  power  in  discovery,  England  as  a  mighty  bulwark 
of  literature,  the  France  of  the  eighteenth  century  as  emblematic  of  emancipation,  and 
America  as  the  nation  of  scientific  genius.  Each  figure  holds  the  insignia  of  its  place." 
In  the  canopy  of  the  dome,  above  and  within  the  collar,  Mr.  Blashfield  has  also 
painted,  as  if  floating  in  the  sky,  an  exquisitely  graceful  female  figure,  called  Human 

Understanding,  who  lifts  her  veil  and  gazes  up,  as  if  seeking  more  and 
"Human  more  guidance  from  on  high.  Two  cherubs  attend  her,  carrying  the 
Under-  Book  of  Knowledge. 

standing."       The  practical  work  of  the  library  concentrates  in  the  rotunda,  where  (in 

the  center)  stands  the  circular  desk  of  the  superintendent  and  his  assist- 
ants, who  can  speedily  communicate  with  all  parts  of  the  building  by  a  system  of  tele- 
phones, and  by  pneumatic  tubes,  which  carry  messages  and  orders  for  books  to  any 

required  room  or  book-stack.  The  floor  is  filled  with  small  desks, 
Adminis-  arranged  in  concentric  circles  and  separated  by  light  screens  or  curtains, 
tration.  and  the  intrusion  of  mere  sight-seers  is  forbidden.  Unlimited  light  and 

air  are  assured,  and  quiet  is  enforced;  while  celerity  in  obtaining  and 
distributing  book  s  is  secured  by  various  devices  that  librarians  elsewhere  will  admire 
and  copy.  As  there  is  a  constant  call  for  books  of  reference  from  the  Capitol,  where  the 
legislators  often  want  a  volume  for  instant  use,  an  underground  tunnel,  four  feet  wide 
and  six  feet  high,  has  been  made  between  the  two  buildings,  containing  an  endless  cable 


THE    LIBRARY   OF   CONGRESS.  75 

carrier,  upon  which  books  may  be  sent  back  and  forth  at  great  speed.    An  assistant, 
cyclopedias,  etc.,  are  stationed  at  the  Capitol  terminus. 

The  stack-rooms,  or  apartments  where  the  books  themselves  are  kept,  open  out  on 
each  side  of  the  rotunda  into  the  lofty  wings  that  divide  the  interior  courts,  whose 
enameled  walls  reflect  a  flood  of  light  into  their  numerous  windows. 
These  repositories  contain  the  most  improved  arrangement.     Cases  of  Care  Of 

iron,  rising  sixty-five  feet  to  the  roof,  are  filled  with  adjustable  shelves  Books, 

of  coated  steel  as  smooth  as  glass.  The  floors  of  these  rooms  are  mar- 
ble, and  the  decks,  at  intervals  of  every  seven  feet  from  top  to  bottom,  by  which  the 
attendants  reach  the  shelves,  are  simply  slabs  of  white  marble  on  steel  bars.  Cleanliness 
and  ventilation  are  thus  fully  assured.  Each  of  these  stacks  will  hold  800,000  books  ; 
and  the  present  capacity  of  all  those  erected  is  about  2,000,000  volumes,  while  addi- 
tional space  can  be  made  for  2,500,000  more,  or  nearly  4,500,000  volumes  in  all  —  more 
than  the  probable  accumulation  of  the  next  century  and  a  half.  The  greatest  existing 
library  in  the  world,  that  of  France,  now  contains  about  2,500,000  volumes.  The 
available  space  for  all  purposes  here  is  largely  in  excess  of  that  of  the  British  Museum, 
and  amounts  to  more  than  two-thirds  that  of  the  Capitol  itself.  To  Capt.  Bernard 
Green  belongs  the  high  credit  for  the  invention  and  perfection  of  these  mechanical 
arrangements  for  the  care  of  the  books,  and  for  many  other  improvements  in* library 
administration.  Tin-  stack-rooms  are  not  open  to  the  public,  but  glimpses  of  them, may 
be  caught  through  glass  doors  in  the  rotunda  gallery. 

Consultation  of  the  books  is  open  to  anyone  in  the  reading-room,  though  no  books 
can  be  taken  out.     The  applicant  writes  the  title  of  the  book  he  wants  and  his  own 
aildn—  on  a  blank  ticket,  which  lie  hands  in  at  the  central  desk,  where 
In- presently  gets  the  book.     Seats  are  arranged  at  circular  desks  which         Reading- 
will  accommodate  about  250  readers.     No  one  may  take  books  out  of  room. 
the  library  except  members  of  Congress,  and  about  thirty  other  high 
officiate. 

A  restaurant  is  maintained  in  the  attic  (reached  by  elevator)  which  is  open  to  the 
public  during  tin-  day  and  evening. 

The  basement  is  devoted  to  the  offices  of  the  library  (including  that  of 
the  Superintendent  of  the  Building  and  Grounds),  and  to  the  Copyright     Restaurant* 
Office.     This  is  quartered  in  a  large  hall  on  the  south  side,  but  contains 
nothing  to  interest  the  sight  seer. 

This  office  grants  copyrights  upon  all  kinds  of  literary  material,  upon  the  payment 
of   certain  small   fees  and    compliance    with    regulations  as  to  the  deposit  of    two 
copies  of  the  publication  in  this  library,  and  the  proper  publication  of 
notice  of  copyright.    The  law  makes  this  right  apply  to  author,  inventor,          Copyright 
designer,  or  proprietor  of  any  book,  map,  chart,  dramatic  or  musical  Office. 

composition,  engraving,  cut,  print,  or  photograph  or  negative  thereof,  or 
of  a  painting,  drawing,  chromo,  statue,  statuary,  and  of  models  or  designs  intended  to 
be  perfected  as  works  of  the  fine  arts,  and  the  executors,  administrators,  or  assigns  of 
any  such  person  shall,  upon  complying  with  the  provisions  of  this  chapter,  have  the 
sole  liberty  of  printing,  reprinting,  publishing,  completing,  copying,  executing,  finish- 
ing, and  vending  the  same  ;  and,  in  the  case  of  a  dramatic  composition,  of  publicly  per- 
forming or  representing  it,  or  causing  it  to  be  performed  or  represented  by  others.  This 
privilege  remains  protected  for  twenty-eight  years,  and  may  then  be  renewed  for  four- 
teen years. 

The  pictures  of  paintings  in  the  Library,  appearing  in  this  chapter,  are  from  copyrighted  photo- 
graphs by  Howard  Gray  Douglas,  supplied  by  Houghton  &  Delano, 


77 


THE   NORTH   CORRIDOR.- Second  Story,  Main  Entrance  Hall. 


IV. 
ON  CAPITOL  HILL. 

The  plateau  east  of  the  Capitol  was  considered  by  the  founders  of  the  city  the  most 
dcsir.-dtlc  ivgion  for  residence,  and  truly  it  was  in  those  days,  as  compared  with  the 
hills  and  swamps  of  the  northwestern  quarter  or  the  lowlands  along  the 
river.     Tlif  principal  owner  was  Daniel  Carroll,  and  when  the  alternate  Early 

city  lots  we iv  sold  for  the  benefit  of  the  public  funds,  higher  prices  were  Expectations. 
paid  for  them  here  than  elsewhere.     Carroll  considered  himself  sure  to  be 
a  millionaire,  hut  died  poor  at  last ;  Robert  Morris  of  Philadelphia,  the  financier  of  the 
Revolution,    invested    heavily  here  and  lost  accordingly;    and  the  two    lots  which 
Washington  himself    bought  cost  him  about  $1,000. 

Daniel  Carroll  built  for  himself  what  was  then  considered  a  very  fine   mansion, 
styled  Duddington  Manor,  and  that  it  really  was  a  spacious,  comfortable,  and  elegant 


III 


Hilil 


WEST  FRONT  CAPITOL  AT  NIGHT,  ILLUMINATED  WITH  SEARCH-LIGHTS. 

house  can  be  seen  by  anyone  who  will  walk  down  New  Jersey  Avenue,  three  blocks 
southeast  of  the  Capitol,  and  then  a  block  east  on  E  Street,  which  will  bring  him  in 
sight  of  the  old  house  upon  its  tree-shaded  knoll,  surrounded  by  a  high  wall,  and 
desolate  amid  ' '  modern  improvements. "  Upon  the  personal  history  of  the  men  who 
have  dined  beneath  its  roof,  and  the  stories  its  walls  might  repeat,  Mrs.  Lockwood  has 

79 


80  PICTORIAL   GUIDE   TO   WASHINGTON. 

expatiated  pleasantly  in  her  valuable  book,  "  Historic  Homes  in  Washington,"  to  which 
everyone  must  be  indebted  who  discourses  upon  the  social  chronicles  of  the  capital. 

A  more  famous  building  was  the  old  Capitol  Prison,  as  it  came  to  be 
Old  Capitol  called  during  the  Civil  War,  whose  walls  still  stand  upon  the  block 
Prison.  facing  the  Capitol  grounds  at  the  intersection  of  Maryland  Avenue  with 

First  and  A  streets,  N.  E.,  enclosing  the  residences  called  Lanior  Place 
This  was  a  spacious  brick  building  hastily  erected  by  the  citizens  of  Washington 
after  the  destruction  of  the  Capitol  by  the  British  in  1814,  to  accommodate  Congress  and 
hold  the  national  capital  here  against  the  renewed  assaults  of  those  who  wished  to  move 
the  seat  of  government  elsewhere.  While  it  was  building,  Congress  held  one  session  in 
Blodgett's  "  great  hotel,"  which  stood  on  the  site  of  the  former  General  Post  Office,  and 
then  sat  in  this  building  until  the  restored  Capitol  was  ready  for  them,  in  1827.  It  was 
a  big,  plain,  warehouse-like  structure,  which  was  turned  into  a  boarding-house  after 
Congress  abandoned  it,  and  there  Senator  John  C.  Calhoun  died  in  1850.  When  the 
Civil  War  broke  out  this  building  became  a  military  prison  for  persons  suspected  or 
convicted  of  aiding  and  abetting  the  secession  treason  to  which  his  influence  had  so  pow- 
erfully contributed.  Washington  was  full  of  Southern  sympathizers  and  spies,  and 
many  are  the  traditions  in  the  old  families  of  days  and  weeks  spent  by  overzealous 
members  in  "durance  vile  "  within  its  walls,  guarded  by  the  "  law-and-order  brigade" 
of  the  Provost  Marshal's  office,  which  formed  the  police  of  the  capital  in  those  days. 
Here  Wirz,  the  brutal  keeper  of  Andersonville  prison,  was  executed,  as  well  as  several 
other  victims  of  the  war.  Several  years  ago  it  was  remodeled  into  handsome  residences, 
one  of  which  was  the  home  of  Mr.  Justice  Field  until  his  death  in  1899. 

The  tall  brick  Maltby  Building,  directly  north  of  the  Capitol,  originally  a  hotel,  is 
now  occupied  by  congressional  committees,  and  is  called  the  Senate  Annex. 

The  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey,  a  scientific  branch  of  the  Treasury  Department 
to  map  the  coast,  chart  the  waters,  and  investigate  and  publish  movements  of  tides, 
currents,  etc.,  for  the  benefit  of  navigation,  is  domiciled  in  a  brick  build- 
Coast  ing  on  New  Jersey  Avenue,  south  of  the  Capitol,  immediately  in  the  rear 

Survey.  of  the  great  stone  house  built  long  ago  by  Benjamin  F,  Butler  as  a  resi- 

dence, and  which  is  now  principally  occupied  by  the  Marine  Hospital 
Service.  New  Jersey  Avenue  leads  in  that  direction  to  Garfield  Park,  which  is  too  new 
to  be  of  interest,  and  beyond  that  to  the  shore  of  the  Anacostia,  near  the  Navy  Yard. 
Just  west  of  it  Delaware  Avenue  forms  a  perfectly  straight  street  to  Washington 
Barracks. 

Capitol  Hill,  as  the  plateau  of  the  Capitol  is  popularly  called,  can  yet  show  many 
fine,  old-fashioned  homes,  though  some  formerly  notable  have  disappeared.     It  has  its 
own  shady  avenues,  quiet  cross  streets,  and  pretty  parks,     In  Stanton 
Greene  Square  (three  and  one-half  acres),  half  a  mile  northeast  out  Maryland 

Statue.  Avenue,   is  H.   K.  Brown's  bronze  statue  of  Major-General  Nathanael 

Greene,  who  distinguished  himself  at  Eutaw  Spring  and  elsewhere  in  the 
South  during  the  Revolution,  and  to  whom  a  statue  was  voted  by  the  Continental  Con- 
gress. This  statue,  which  was  cast  in  Philadelphia,  and  cost,  with  its  pedestal  of  New 
England  granite,  $50,000,  is  one  of  the  most  life-like  figures  in  Washington,  the  model- 
ing of  the  horse  being  particularly  admirable.  The  Peabody  School  confronts  this  neat 
square.  A  farther  walk  of  half  a  mile  down  Massachusetts  Avenue  takes  one  to  Lincoln 
Square  —  a  beautifully  shaded  tract  of  six  and  one-quarter  acres,  just  a  mile  east  of  the 
Capitol.  Here  Tennessee  and  Kentucky  avenues  branch  off  northward  and  southward, 
the  former  leading  to  Graceland  and  Mount  Olivet  cemeteries,  and  the  latter  to  the  Con- 
gressional Cemetery,  and  to  the  bridge  (over  the  Anacostia  to  Twining)  at  the  foot  of 
Pennsylvania  Avenue. 


ON   CAPITOL   HILL.  81 

Christ  Church  (Protestant  Episcopal)  on  G  Street,  S.  E.,  between  Sixth  and  Seventh, 
is   the   oldest   church   in  the  city.       It  was  erected  in   1795,    and   was  attended  by 
Presidents  Jefferson  and  Madison.     Services  are  still  held  there.     Christ 
Church  Cemetery,  more  popularly  known  as  the  Congressional   Burial  Christ 

Ground,    adjoins    the   grounds  of    the  workhouse  on    the  south,    and  Church. 

occupies  a  spacious  tract  on  the  bank  of  the  Anacostia.       It  contains 
the  graves  and  cenotaphs,  formerly  erected  by  Congress,  of  many  persons  once  promi- 
nent in  official  life. 

This  cemetery  was  the  principal,  if  not  the  only  place  of  interment  at  the  beginning 
of  civili/ation   here;  and  many  officials  who  died  at  the  capital  were  buried  there, 
and  the  practice  continues.   Congress  contributing  toward  the  support 
of  the  cemetery  in  consideration  of  this  fact.     Among  the  notable  men          Congres- 
buried  here  are  :  Vice-President  George  Clinton  of  New  York  ;  Signer  sional 

and  Yice-Proident  Elbridge  Gerry  <>f  Massachusetts,  whose  name  gave  Cemetery. 
us  the  verb  "to  gerrymander ";  William  West,  born  in  Bladensburg 
in  1772,  a  distinguished  essayist  and  jurist,  and  finally  Attorney-General  under  Monroe; 
Alexander  Macomb,  hero  of  Plattsburg  and  General  of  the  army  preceding  Scott,  who 
has  a  fine  military  monument ;  his  predecessor,  Gen.  Jacob  Brown,  resting  under 
a  broken  column;  Tobias  Lear,  Washington's  private  secretary;  A.  D.  Bache,  the 
organi/er  of  the  coast  survey,  and  several  distinguished  officers  of  the  old  army  and 
navy.  A  public  vault,  erected  by  Congress,  stands  near  the  center  of  the  grounds. 
The  nearest  street  cars  are  on  F  Street,  S.  E. 

All  this  old x  tiled  and  no  longer  fashionable  region,  near  the  Anacostia,  is  spoken 
of  rather  contemptuously  as  "the  navy  yard,"  and  it  supplies  a  fair  share  of  work 
for  the  police  courts  ;  but  it  is  greatly  beloved  of  soldiers  and  sailors  on  leave. 

In  Lincoln  Square,  the  mo-t  beautiful  thing  is  the  lofty,  symmetrical  sycamore  tree 
in  the  center;  but  the  nm>t  noted  object  is  the  Statue  Monument  to  the  Emancipation 
of  the  Slaves.  This  is  a  bron/.e  group,  erected  by  contributions  from  the 
colored  freednien  of  tin-  United  State-,  many  of  whom  were  set  free  by  Emancipation 
the  proclamation  which  is  represented  in  the  hand  of  the  great  benefactor  Monument. 
of  American  .-lave-,  one  of  whom  i-  kneeling,  unshaekeled,  at  his  feet. 
One  of  the  inscribed  tablets  upon  the  pede-tal  informs  us  that  the  first  contribution  was 
the  tir-t  free  earnin.ir>  <>f  Charlotte  Scott,  a  freed  woman  of  Virginia,  at  whose  suggestion, 
on  the  day  of  Lincoln's  death,  this  monument  fund  was  begun.  This  statue,  twelve 
feet  high,  was  cast  in  Munich  at  an  expense  of  $17,000,  and  was  unveiled  on  April  14, 
is?<5,  the  eleventh  anniver-ary  of  Lincoln's  assassination,  Frederick  Douglass  making 
the  oration. 

East  Capitol  Street  i-  a  wide  avenue  running  straight,  one  mile,  from  this  park  to  the 
Capitol,  between  row-  of  elm-  and  poplars,  and  continuing  onward  to  the  Eastern  Branch 
through  scanty  and  low-lying  suburbs  On  the  same  river  bank,  at  the  east- 
ern terminus  of  Ma--achusetts  Avenue,  occupying  a  reservation  called  District 
Hospital  Square,  are  the  District  Almshouse.  Workhouse  (or  Asylum  for  Institutions. 
the  Indigent),  and  the  stone  jail,  costing  $40,000,  in  which  several 
murderers,  including  Garfield's  assailant.  Guiteau,  have  been  confined  and  executed. 
Some  distance  away,  on  the  Bladensburg  Road,  can  be  seen  the  buildings  of  the  Boys' 
Reform  School.  All  these  institutions  are  well  worth  inspection  by  those  especially 
interested;  but  the  view  of  them  obtained  from  passing  trains  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad  will  satisfy  most  persons. 

Tin-   Navy  Yard  is  one  of   the  places  which  visitors  to  Washington      Mavy  Yard. 
are  usually  most  anxious   to  see,  but  it  usually  offers  little  to  reward 
their  curiosity  outside  of  the  gunshop,  museum,  and  trophies.     It  stands  on  the  banks 


82  PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 

of  the  broad  tidal  estuary  of  the  Anacostia  River,  at  the  foot  of  Eighth  Street,  S.  E., 
and  is  the  terminus  of  the  cars  from  Georgetown  along  Pennsylvania  Avenue.  The 
Anacostia  line  of  street  cars  along  M  Street,  S.  E.,  also  passes  the  gate. 

This  navy  yard  was  established  (1804)  as  soon  as  the  Government  came  here,  and  was 
an  object  of  destruction  by  the  British,  who  claim,  however,  that  it  was  set  on  fire  by 
the  Americans.  It  was  restored,  and  "for  more  than  half  a  century  many  of  the  largest 
and  finest  ships  of  war  possessed  by  the  United  States  were  constructed  in  this  yard." 
Two  spacious  ship  houses  remain,  but  the  yard  is  now  almost  entirely  given  up  to  the 
manufacture  of  naval  guns  and  ammunition  and  the  storage  of  equipments.  It  often 
happens  that  not  a  ship  of  any  sort  is  at  the  wharves  (though  a  receiving  ship  is  usually 
moored  there),  and  the  sentry  at  the  gate  is  almost  the  only  sign  of  military  occupation 
about  the  place. 

The  first  great  building  on  the  right,  the  Gun  Shop,  at  the  foot  of  the  stone  stairs, 
is  the  most  interesting  place  in  the  yard.  It  is  filled  with  the  most  powerful  and  ap- 
proved machinery  for  turning,  boring,  rifling,  jacketing,  and  otherwise 
Ordnance  finishing  ready  for  work  the  immense  rifles  required  for  modern  battle- 
Factories,  ships,  as  well  as  .the  smaller  rapid-fire  guns  forming  the  supplementary 
batteries  of  the  cruisers  and  other  vessels  of  war.  The  great  guns  are 
mainly  cast  at  Bethlehem,  Pa.,  and  brought  here  rough.  Observing  carefully  the  posted 
regulations,  the  visitor  may  walk  where  he  pleases  through  these  magnificent  factories 
and  watch  the  extremely  interesting  process,  and  should  it  happen  that  any  vrss< 'Is  of 
war  are  in  the  harbor,  permission  to  go  onboard  of  them  may  usually  be  obtained. 

The  office  of  the  commandant  of  the  yard  is  at  the  foot  of  the  main  walk  near  the 
wharf,  and  there  application  should  be  made  for  permission  to  go  anywhere  not  open 
to  the  public.  A  large  number  of  guns,  showing  types  used  in  the  past, 
Trophies*  are  lying  near  the  office,  and  a  series  of  very  interesting  cannon  captured 
from  the  Tripolitan,  British,  Mexican,  or  Confederate  enemies  whom  the 
navy  has  had  to  fight,  are  mounted  before  the  office.  Among  them  is  the  famous  42- 
pounder,  Long  Tom,  cast  in  1786  in  France,  captured  from  the  frigate  Noche  by  the 
British  in  1798,  and  then  sold  to  us.  Later  it  was  struck  by  a  shot,  condemned,  and 
sold  to  Haiti,  then  at  war  with  France.  This  over,  the  cannon  had  various  owners  until 
1814,  when  it  formed  the  main  reliance  in  the  battery  of  the  privateer  General  Arm- 
strong, which,  by  pluckily  fighting  three  British  war-ships  off  Fayal,  in  the  Azores,  so 
crippled  them  that  the  squadron  was  unable  to  reach  New  Orleans,  whither  it  was 
bound,  in  time  to  help  the  land  forces  there  against  the  victorious  Jackson.  The  brig- 
was  afterward  sunk  to  prevent  her  capture  by  the  British,  but  the  Portuguese  authori- 
ties had  so  greatly  admired  the  little  ship's  action  that  they  saved  this  gun  as  a  trophy, 
and  sent  it -as  a  present  to  the  United  States. 

A  museum  near  the  gate  is  worth  visiting,  as  it  contains  many  pieces  of  old-fashioned 

ordnance  and  ammunition,  and  many  relics  of  historical  or  legendary  interest,  of  which 

the  most  popular,  perhaps,  is  the  stern-post  of  the  original  Keursarge, 

Navy  still  containing  a  shell  received  during  her  fight  with  the  Alabama.     The 

Museum.  door  of  the  museum  is  shaded  by  a  willow  grown  from  a  twig  cut  above 

the  grave  of  Napoleon  at  St.  Helena.     The  residences  of  officers  on  duty 

at  the  yard  are  near  the  gate,  which  was  built  from  designs  by  Latrobe. 

The  marine  barracks,  three  squares  above  the  Navy  Yard,  on  Eighth  Street,  S.  E., 
occupy  a  square  surrounded  by  brick  buildings  painted  yellow,  according  to  naval  cus- 
tom, and  are  the  home  station  and  headquarters  of  the  Marine  Corps ; 
Marine  Corps,  but,  except  that  here  is  the  residence  of  the  famous  Marine  Baud,  they 
contain  nothing  of  interest  to  the  visitor,  unless  he  likes  to  watch  guard- 
mounting  every  morning  at  9,  or  the  formal  inspection  on  Mondays  at  10  A.  M.  The 


ON   CAPITOL  HILL. 


83 


Marine  Band  is  the  only  military  band  always  stationed  in  Washington,  and  available 

for  all  military  ceremonials.  These  advantages  have  given  it  "Teat  excellence  ;  and  its 
music  at  parades.  President's  receptions,  inaugural  balls,  etc.,  is  highly  appreciated. 
This  band  gives  outdoor  concerts  in  summer. 

The  Naval  Ilo>pit:il,  for  sick  and  wounded  oflicers  and  men  of  the  Navy  and  Marine 
Corps,  is  at  Pennsylvania  Avenue  and  Ninth  Street.  S  K.:  and  at  Second  and  D  streets, 
S.  K.,  is  Providence  Hospital,  founded  in  lsr,-_> 

Anaeostia  is  a  name  applied  in  an   indefinite  way  to  the  region  opposite  the  Navy 
Yard,  and  is  reached  by  a  bridge  at   the  foot  of  Kleveiith  Street,  crossed  by  the  street 
cars  of  the  Anaeostia  A:  Potomac  line.     The  village  at  the  farther  end  of 
the  bridge,  now  called  Anaeostia.  was  formerly  rniontown.  and  from  it         AnaCOStia 
branch  roads  lead  upon  the  Maryland  heights  in  various  directions,  where  Suburbs. 

electric  railroads  and   park  villages  are  rapidly  extending.     Twining,  at 
the  eastern  end  of  the  Pennsylvania  Avenue  bridge;    Lincoln   Heights,  in  the  extreme 

eastern  corner  of  the  district  :  (orlield  and  (J 1  Hope,  on  the  fine   Marlboro  Turnpike, 

which  is  a  favorite  run  for  cycler- -.  and  Congreo  Heights,  farther  south,  are  the  prin- 
cipal of  these  suburban  centers.  All  of  these  high  ridge>  were  crowned  and  connected 
by  fortification*,  sonic  of  which  remain  in  fairly  good  condition,  especially  Fort  Stanton, 
JIM  -outh  of  (Jarlidd.  A  wide  and  interesting  view  of  the  city  and  the  Potomac  Valley 
is  obtained  from  its  ramparts,  and  aiso  of  the  great  Federal  Insane  Asylum. 


MUSEUM,  NAVY   YARD. 


V. 


FROM  THE  CAPITOL  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 


A  Walk  Up  Pennsylvania  Avenue. 

Pennsylvania  Avenue  is  the  backbone  of  Washington  —  the  head  of  it  resting  upon 
the  >toried  heights  of  Georgetown,  and  the  tail  lost  in  the  wilderness  of  shanties  east  of 
the  Xavv  Yard.     It  is  four  miles  and  a  half  long,  but  is  broken  by  the 
Capitol  grounds    and    by    the    Treasury  and  White    House    grounds.    Pennsylvania 
Between  these  i \vo  breaks  it  extends  as  a  straight  boulevard,  one  and  a  Avenue. 

half  miles  in  length  and  100  feet  wide,  paved  with  asphalt  and  expanding 
at  short   interval*   int..   •.],;,<•< -   or  parks   caused  by    the  angular  intersection  of  other 
streets.     It  will,  by-and-by.  be  among  the  grandot  streets  in  the  United  States. 

A  walk  up  "The  Avenue"  begins  at  the  western  gates  of  the  Capitol,  where  First 
Street.  X.  \\'.,  curves  across  its  rounded  front.  Pennsylvania  Avenue  strikes  north- 
west :  a  few  paces  to  tin-  left.  Maryland  Avenue  diverges  southwest,  .straight  down  past 
the  Xational  Museum  to  Lmig  Bridge.  The  circles  at  the  beginning  of  'these  streets  are 
tilled  with  two  conspicuous  monuments  — the  Naval  or  Peace  Memorial  at  Pennsylvania 
Avenue,  and  the  (Jartield  at  Maryland  Avenue. 


PENNSYLVANIA  AVENUE.— Looking  East  from  the  Treasury  Department. 

85 


86 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 


The  Naval  Monument  was  erected  in  1878  from  contributions  by  officers  and  men  of 
that  service,  "in  memory  of  the  officers,  seamen,  and  marinesof  the  United  Slates  Navy 

who  fell  in  defense  of  the  Union  and  liberty  of  their  country,  1861-1865." 
Naval  It  was  designed  from  a  sketch  by  Admiral  David  D.  Porter,  elaborated 

Monument.  by  Franklin  Simmons,  at  Rome,  and  is  of  pure  Carrara  marble,  resting 

upon  an  elaborate  granite  foundation  designed  by  Kdward  Clark,  the 
present  architect  of  the  Capitol.  America  is  sorrowfully  narrating  the  loss  of  her 
defenders,  while  History  records  on  her  tablet :  "They  died  that  their  country  might 
live."  Below  these  figures  on  the  western  plinth  of  the  monument  is  a  figure  of  Victory. 
with  an  infant  Neptune  and  Mars,  holding  aloft  a  laurel  wreath,  and  on  the  reverse  is  a 
figure  of  Peace  offering  the  olive  branch.  The  cost  was  $41,000,  half  of  which  was 
given  by  Congress  for  the  pedestal  and  its  two  statues. 


THE  NAVAL  MONUMENT.— Pennsylvania  Avenue  near  Western   Entrance  to  Capitol  Grounds. 

The  Garfield  Statue  is  a  more  recent  acquisition,  having  been  erected  by  his  comrades 
of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  and  unveiled  in  1887,  to  commemorate  the  virtues  and 

popularity  of  President  James  A.  Garfield,  whose  assassination,  six 
Garfield  years  before,  had  horrified  the  whole  country.  The  statesman  stands 

Monument*  upon  a  massive  pedestal,  in  the  attitude  of  an  orator  ;  nearer  the  base  of 

the  statue  three  figures  represent  three  phases  of  his  career  —  student, 
soldier,  and  publicist.  This  statue  was  designed  by  J.  Q.  A.  Ward,  and  erected  at  an 
expense  of  $65,000,  half  of  which  was  appropriated  by  Congress  to  pay  for  the  pedestal 
and  its  three  bronze  figures. 

In  the  triangle  between  these  two  avenues  lies  the  ten-acre  tract  of  the 
Botanical  Botanical  Garden,  where  Congressmen  get  their  button-hole  bouquets, 

Garden.  and  their  wives  cuttings  and  seeds  for  pretty  house-plants.  It  long  ago 

outlived  its  scientific  usefulness,  and  has  never  attained  excellence  a<  a 
public  pleasure-garden  or  park,  while  its  cost  has  been  extravagant.  In  its  central 


FROM   THE   CAPITOL   TO   THE   WHITE   HOUSE. 


87 


greenhouse  may  be  seen  certain  tropical  plants  brought  home  by  the  Wilkes  and  Perry 
exploring  expeditions  ;  and  the  conspicuous  illuminated  fountain  in  the  center  of  the 
grounds  is  the  one  by  Bartholdi,  so  greatly  admired  at  the  Centennial  Exposition,  1876. 
It  cost  $6,000. 

The  buildings  improve  as  we  proceed,  and  in  the  next  block,  on  the  right,  is  the 
National  Hotel,  whose  history  goes  back  to  the  early  decades  of  the  centuiy,  for  in  the 
time  of  Clay  and  Webster  it  was  filled  with   the   leading  spirits  in  the 
Government,  who  caused  many  memorable  things  to  happen  beneath  its  Early  Hotels. 
roof.     At  Sixth  Street,  just  south  of  the  avenue,  is  the  handsome  station 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  and  opposite  it  is  the  Metropolitan  Hotel,  covering  the 
site  of  the  first  important  hotel  in  Washington,  the  "Indian  Queen,"  which  was  the 
scene  of  the  greatest  festivities  at  the  capital  during  the  first  third  of  the  century. 

This  brings  us  to  Seventh  Street,  the  chief  north-and-south  artery  of  traffic.  Here 
Louisiana  Avenue  extends  northeastward  to  Judiciary  Square  ;  and  its  diagonal  crossing 
of  Pennsylvania  Avenue  leaves  a  triangle,  upon  which  stands  the  equestrian  statue  of 
Maj.-Gen.  Winfiekl  S.  Hancock,  by  Henry  J.  Ellicott,  erected  in  1896. 

On  the  south  side  of  the  avenue  here,  stretching  from  Seventh  to  Ninth  Street,  is 
Center  Market,  one  of  the  most  spacious,  convenient,  well-furnished,  and  withal  pictur- 
esque establishments  of  its  kind  in  the  country.     No  one  should  consider 
a  tour  of  Washington  made  until  they  have  spent  an  early  morning  hour  Center 

in  this  market,  and  in  the  open-air  country  market  behind  it,  along  the  Market. 

railings  of  the  Smithsonian  grounds,  where  the  gaunt  farmers  of  the  Vir- 
ginia and  Maryland  hills  stand  beside  their  ramshackle  wagons,   or  hover  over  little 
fires  to  keep  warm,  and  quaint  old  darkies  offer  for  sale  old-fashioned  flowers    and 

"yarbs,"  live  chickens,  and  fresh-laid 
eggs,  bunches  of  salad  or  fruit  from 
their  tiny  suburban  fields,  smoking  cob 
pipes  and  crooning  wordless  melodies 
just  as  they  used  to  do  in  "  befo'  de  wa' " 
days.  There  are  four  or  five  great  mar- 
kets in  Washington.  Between  the  market 
and  Pennsylvania  Avenue  is  a  park  space, 
through  which  runs  the  depression  mark- 
ing the  old  Tiber  Canal,  now  a  grassy 
trench  crossed  by  a  picturesque  bridge. 
Here  stands  the  Statue  of  Maj.-Gen.  John 
A.  Rawlins,  Grant's  Chief 
of  Staff,  and  later  his  Sec-  Rawlins 

retary  of    War,    who  also  Statue. 

has  a  small  park  named 
after  him  in  the  rear  of  the  War  Office, 
where  this  monument  was  first  erected. 
This  statue,  which  is  of  bronze,  after  de- 
signs by  J.  Bailey,  cast  in  Philadelphia, 
from  rebel  cannon  captured  by  Grant's 
armies,  was  erected  in  1874,  and  paid  for 
($12,000)  by  friends  of  Rawlins,  who  died 
here  in  1869. 

Good  modern  buildings  and  fine  stores 
line  the  avenue  from  here  on  to  Fifteenth 
Street,  especially  on  the  northern  side.  At 


BRONZE  STATUE  OF  JAMES  A.  GARFlELD. 

Southwestern   Entrance  to  Capitol  Grounds. 

By  J.  Q.  A.  Ward. 


88 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE   TO   WASHINGTON. 


Ninth  Street  another  north-and-south  artery  of   street-car  traffic  is  crossed,  and  the 
Academy  of  Music  appears  at  the  right. 

Tenth  Street,  the  next,  is  historic.     At  the  left,  past  the  market,  is  the  principal  en- 
trance to  the  Smithsonian  grounds  ;  and  on  the  corner  is  the  office  of  a  lively  morning 

newspaper,  The  Times.  The  open  space  here  is  decorated  with  Plassman's 
Franklin  Statue  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  looking  shrewdly  down  upon  the  trafficking 

Statue.  throng,  as  that  eminent  man  of  affairs  was  wont  to  do.     It  is  marble,  of 

heroic  size,  represents  Franklin  in  his  court  dress  as  Minister  to  the  Court 
of  France,  and  was  presented  to  the  city  in  1889,  by  Stilson  Hutchins,  an  editor  and 
writer  of  wide  reputation.  The  assassination  of  President  Lincoln  occurred  in  the  old 
Ford's  Theater  on  this  Tenth  Street,  in  the  second  block  north  of  Pennsylvania  Avenue, 
and  the  buildings  made  sacred  by  the  event  are  still  standing. 

Ford's  Theater,  which  during  the  Civil  War  was  the  leading  theater  in  the  city,  has 
long  been  occupied  by  the  Government  as  offices.     Here,  on  the  night  of  April  14,  1865, 

President  Lincoln,  with  members  of  his  family  and  staff,  went,  by  special 
Ford's  invitation,  to  witness  a  play  in  which  the  actor  J.  Wilkes  Booth  had  a 

Theater*  principal  part.     During  an  intermission,  Booth  entered  the  box  in  which 

the  President  sat,  shot  him  in  the  back  of  the  head  with  a  revolver,  and 
then  leaped  to  the  stage.  At  the  same  time,  other  assassins  made  attempts  upon  the 
life  of  the  cabinet  officers  —  that  upon  Secretary  Wm.  H.  Seward  nearly  proving  suc- 
cessful. Booth  leaped  to  the  stage,  and,  with  the  other  assassins,  made  his  escape,  but 
all  were  soon  recaptured,  brought  to  Washington  (except  Booth,  who  was  killed  in 
Maryland),  and  incarcerated  in  the  military  penitentiary  at  the  Arsenal,  where  four 
of  the  leaders  of  the  conspiracy  were  tried  and  hung.  Ford's  Theater  was  at  once 
closed  by  order  of  the  Government,  which  purchased  the  building  in  1866.  It  was 


THE   BARTHOLDI   FOUNTAIN.  —  Botanical  Garden. 


FROM   THE   CAPITOL  TO   THE   WHITE  HOUSE.  89 

remodeled  and  appropriated  to  the  uses  of  the  Record  and  Pension  Division  of  the  War 
Department,  and  on  June  9,  1893,  suffered  a  collapse  of  the  floors,  which  caused  the 
death  and  maiming  of  many  clerks.  During  all  this  time  the  proscenium  pillar,  next 
which  Mr.  Lincoln  sat  when  he  was  killed,  had  been  preserved  in  place,  properly 
marked  ;  it  survived  the  disaster  of  1893,  and  can  still  be  seen. 

The    house    to    which   Lincoln  was    carried,     opposite    the    theater  (No.  516),    is 
marked  by  a  tablet,   and  is  open  to  visitors,   who  are  shown  the  rear 
room  on  the  ground  floor  in  which  the  great  martyr  died.     A  large  and  Lincoln 

miscellaneous  collection  of  "Lincoln  relics"  is  now  displayed  by  the  Relics, 

owner  in  the  other  rooms,  and  an  admission  fee  of  25  cents  is  charged. 

The  corner  of  Eleventh  Street  is  distinguished  by  the  lofty  and  ornate  home  of  The 
Keening  Star,  opposite  which,  filling  the  whole  square  from  Eleventh  to  Twelfth  Street, 
is  the  Post  Office,  elsewhere  described. 

On  the  corner  of  Twelfth  Street  stands  the  lofty  Raleigh  Hotel.  The  two  pretty 
little  parks  at  Thirteenth  Street  are  confronted  by  hotels,  restaurants,  etc.,  and  the 
National  Theater,  which  is  among  the  foremost  places  of  amusement  in 
the  city.  The  handsome  home  of  The  Post,  the  leading  morning  news-'  Twelfth  to 
paper,  is  just  beyond.  On  the  south  side  of  the  avenue  is  seen  the  head-  Fifteenth 
quarters  building  of  the  Southern  Railway  system  ;  and  at  Thirteen-  Streets. 

and-one-half  Street,  just  beyond  the  ruins  of  a  railway  power-house, 
is   the   terminus  of  the  Washington,  Alexandria  &  Mount  Vernon  Electric  Railway. 

Fourteenth  Street  is  the  most  important  thoroughfare,  north  and  south,  in  this  part 
of  the  city,  extending  from  the  Long  Bridge,  at  the  foot  of  Maryland  Avenue,  north- 
ward to  Mount  Pleasant.  The  Belt  Line  cars  run  southward  upon  it  from  Pennsylvania 
Avenue  to  the  Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Printing,  and  so  on  around  to  the  Capitol.  At 
the  right  (northward)  the  street  slopes  steeply  up  the  hill  to  F  Street,  and  this  block,  as 
far  a-  the  Kbbitt  House,  is  known  as  Newspaper  Row,  because  filled  with  the  offices  of 
correspondents  of  newspapers  all  over  the  country.  Opposite  them,  occupying  the 
northwest  corner,  is  NVillard's  Hotel 

The  block  opposite  Willard's  is  devoted  to  business  houses,  and  has  the  Regent 
Hotel.  Around  the  corner  to  the  left,  on  Fifteenth  Street,  are  the  Grand  Opera  House, 
the  armory  of  the  Washington  Light  Infantry,  the  house  of  the  Capital  Bicycle  Club,  etc. 

This  brin.u-s  us  to  the  end  of  the  avenue,  against  the  southern  portico  of  the  Treas- 
ury, and  in  sight  of  the  impressive  Sherman  memorial.  Turning  to  the  right,  up  the 
slope  of  Fifteenth  Street,  we  pass  the  busy  terminus  of  F  Street,  and  go  on  to  G,  where 
the  Ri.i^s  House  forms  a  diunitii d  corner-piece.  A  few  steps  farther,  the  broad  avenue 
in  front  of  the  Treasury  opens  the  way  northward,  and  brings  us  to  that  goal  of  patri- 
otic ambition  —  the  White  House. 


VI. 


AT  THE  EXECUTIVE  MANSION. 


The  Executive  Mansion,   more  commonly  called  the  White  House,   has  gained  for 
itself  ;i  world-wit k  reputation  in  a  century's  existence.    George  Washington  was  present 
at  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  in  17U2,  in  what  then  was  simply  David 
Boms' old  fields  stretching  down   to  the  Potomac  (for  this  was  the  first  History. 

public  building  to  be  erected),  but  .John  Adams  was  the  tirst  President  to 
live  in  the  building  ( isoih.  which  was  still  so  new  and  damp  that  his  wife  was  obliged 
to  have  a  literal  house-wanning  to  dry  the  interior  sufficiently  for  safety  to  health.     Its 
cost,  up  to  that  time,  had  been  about  $250,000. 

The  architect.  .lame-.  IJoban.  who  had  won  reputatio  i  by  building  some  of  the  fine 
houses  on  the  Mattery  in  Charleston,  took  his  idea  of  the  mansion  from  the  house  of  the 


THE  WHITE  HOUSE.  — From  Lafayette  Square. 

Irish  Duke  of  Leinster.  in  Dublin,  who  had.  in  turn,  copied  the  Italian  style.  The 
material  is  Virginia  sandstone,  the  length  is  170  feet,  and  the  width  86  feet.  The  house 
stands  squarely  north  and  south,  is  of  two  stories  and  a  basement,  has  a  heavy  balustrade 
along  the  eave>.  a  semicircular  colonnade  on  the  south  side  (facing  the  river  and  finest 
grounds),  and  a  grand  portico  and  porte-cochere  on  the  northern  front,  added  in  Jack- 
son'.- time  It-  cost,  to  the  present,  exceeds  $1,500,000.  In  1814  the  British  set  fire  to 
the  building,  but  heavy  rain-  extinguished  the  conflagration  before  it  had  greatly  injured 
the  walls.  Three  year-  later  the  house  had  been  restored,  and  the  whole  was  then  painted 
white,  to  cover  the  ravages  of  fire  on  its  freestone  walls,  a  color  which  has  been  kept 
ever  since,  and  is  likely  to  remain  as  long  as  the  old  house  does,  not  only  because  of  the 
tradition,  but  becau.-e  it  is  ivallx  ell'eetive  among  the  green  foliage  in  which  the  mansion 
is  ensconced.  It  was  reopened  for  the  New  Year's  Day  reception  of  President  Monroe 
in  1818. 

91 


AT  THE   EXECUTIVE   MANSION. 


93 


The  President's  Grounds  consist  of  some  eighty  acres  sloping  down  to  the  Potomac 
Flats.     The  immediate  gardens  were  early  attended  to,  as  is  shown  by  the  age  and  si/e 
of  the  noble  trees;  but  only  lately  has  the  more  distant  part  of  the  grounds 
been  set  in  order.     This  part,  as  also  the   park   nearer  the  house  (locally        President's 
known  as  the  White  Lot)  is  open  freely  to  the  public,  under  the  eye  of  Grounds. 

policemen;  and  here,  in  warm  weather,  the  Marine  Band   gives  outdoor 
concerts  in  the  afternoon,  and  the  people  come  to  enjoy  them.     At  such  times  fashion 
gathers  in  its  carriages  upon  the  winding  roads  south  of  the  mansion,  and  assumes  the 
formal  parade  of  Rotten  Row  or  the  Hois  de  Boulogne.     It  is  here,  too, 
on  the  sloping  terrace  just  behind  the  White  House,  that  the  children  of    Egg-rolling. 
the  city  gather  on   Easter  Monday  to  roll  their  colored  eggs  — a  pretty 
custom  the  origin  of  which  lias  been  quite  forgotten.     Lafayette  Square  ought  also  to 
be  included  as  practically   a   part    of  the   President's  (Grounds. 

Admission  to  certain  parts  <>f  the  While  House  is  almost  as  free  to  everybody  as  it  is 
to  any  other  of  the  people's  buildings  in  their  capital.  Coming  from  Pennsylvania 
Avenue  by  the  principal  approach,  along  the  semicircular  carriage  drive  that  leads  up 
from  the  open  gates,  the  visitor  enters  the  stately  vestibule  through  the  front  portico, 
from  whose  middle  upper  window  Lincoln  made  so  many  impromptu 
but  memorable  addresses  during  the  war.  Here  will  be  found  door-  Door- 

keepers,  who  direct  caller-  upon   the  President   up  the  staircase  to  the  keepers. 

offices,  and  form  visitors,  who  wish   to  see  the  public  rooms  of  the  man- 
sion,  into  little   parties,    who  are  conducted   under  their  guidance.     The  first  public 
apartment  visited  is  that    on  the  left   as  you  enter,  occupying  the  eastern  wing  of  the 
building  and  called  the  l-'.a-t  Room. 

This,  which  was  originally  designed  for  a  banquet  hall,  and  so  used  until  1S27,  is  now 
the  state  recep- 
tion room.  It  is 
S«)  feet  in  length. 
40  feet  wide,  and 
•J'J  feet  high,  and 
ha>  eight  beauti- 
ful marble  man- 
tels, surmounted 
by  tall  mirror>. 
Its  e  in  bell  i  sli- 

mente  are  renewed 

every  eight  or  ten 
years,  reflecting 
t  he  c  hanging 
fashion  in  decora- 
tion; but  the  crys- 
tal chandeliers. 
wh  ic  h  depen  (1 
from  each  of  the 
three  great  panels 
of  the  cei  ling 
(dating, with  their 
supporting  pillars 
from  Grant's  time) 
are  never  changed ; 

and  Whatever  the  |N   UNE   ON    A   RECEPTION    DAY.— At  the  White  House. 


94 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO    WASHINGTON. 


PORTRAIT  OF  WASHINGTON. -- In   East  Room. 


style,  the  profusion  of  gilding  and  mirrors 
gives  a  brilliant  back- 
East  ROOfll.  ground  for  the  gorgeously 
arrayed  assemblages  that 
gather  here  on  state  occasions,  when  the 
hall  is  a  blaze  of  light,  and  a  garden  of  foli- 
age and  flowers  from  the  great  conserva- 
tories. Full-length  portraits  of  George  and 
Martha  Washington  are  conspicuous 
among  the  pictures  on  the  walls.  The 
former  used  to  be  thought  one  painted 
by  Gilbert  Stuart,  but  it  is  now  known 
to  be  the  work  of  an  obscure  English 
artist  who  copied  Stuart's  style  —  a  "  very 
feeble  imitation  "  Healy  pronounced  it. 

"  Every  visitor  is  told,"  remarks  Mr. 
E.  V.  Smalley,  who  explained  these  facts 
in  The  Century  Magazine,  "that  Mrs. 
Madison  cut  this  painting  from  out  of 
its  frame  with  a  pair  of  shears,  to  save  it 
from  the  enemy,  when  she  fled  from  the 
town  [in  1814] ;  but  in  her  own  letters 
describing  the  hasty  flight,  she  says  that 
Mr.  Custis,  the  nephew  of  Washington,  hastened  over  from  Arlington  to  save  tin- 
precious  portrait,  and  that  a  servant  cut  the  outer  frame  with  an  ax,  so  that  the  canvas 
could  be  removed,  stretched  on  the  inner  frame." 

The  portrait  of  Mrs.  Martha  Washington  is  a  modern  composition  by  E.  B.  Andrews 
of  Washington.  A  full-length  portrait  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  also  by  Mr.  Andrews,  and 
one  of  Lincoln,  by  Coggeshall,  also  occupy  panels  here. 

The  East  Room  is  open  to  anyone  daily  from  10  to  2,  but  the  other  official  apart- 
ments are  only  visible  by  special  request,  or  when,  at  intervals,  a  custodian  leads  a 
party  through  them. 

Adjoining  the  East  Room,  at  its  southern  end,  is  the  Green  Room,  so  named  from 
the  general  color  of  its  decorations  and  furniture,  which  are  traditional.  The  tone  is 
pale  gray  green.  The  ceiling  is  ornamented  with  an  exquisite  design  of 
Green  Room,  musical  instruments  entwined  in  a  garland  with  cherubs  and  flowers,  and 
there  is  a  grand  piano.  There  are  touches  of  gilt  everywhere  upon  the 
ivory-like  woodwork,  and  the  rococo  open-work  in  the  tops  of  the  windows,  from  which 
the  curtains  hang,  is  noticeable.  Here  hang  several  notable  portraits.  Ou6  of  these  is  a 
full-length,  by  Huntiogton,  President  of  the  National  Academy,  of  Mrs.  Benjamin 
Harrison,  which  was  presented  by  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution,  of  whose 
society  she  was  president.  Another  notable  portrait  by  the  same  artist  is  the  full-length 
of  Mrs.  Rutherford  B.  Hayes,  presented  by  the  Wromen's  Christian  Temperance  Union, 
commemorating  Mrs.  Hayes'  courage  in  maintaining  the  cold-water  regime  at  the 
Executive  Mansion.  Three  other  portraits  are  hung  here  by  friends.  One  is  of  Mrs. 
James  K.  Polk;  another,  of  the  second  wife  of  President  Tyler,  and  the  third,  of  the  wile 
of  Major  Van  Buren,  son  of  President  Martin  Van  Buren,  known  in  his  time  as 

"Prince  Harry." 

Blue  Room.      Next  to  this  is  the  somewhat  larger  (40  by  30  feet)  and  oval  Blue  Room, 

which  bows  outward  in  the  center  of  the  colonnade  of  the   south  front 

of  the  building,  and  whose  decorations  are  in  pale  blue  and  gold.     The  ornaments 


AT  THE   EXECUTIVE    MANSION. 


95 


'HE  EAST  ROOM. 


THE  BLUE  ROOM. 


96 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 


are  presents  from  the  French.  The  mantel  clock  was  a  present  from  Napoleon  to 
Lafayette,  and  was  given  by  the  latter  to  the  United  States;  and  the  fine  vases  were 
presented  by  the  President  of  the  French  Republic  on  the  occasion  of  UK-  opening  of 
the  Franco-American  cable.  It  is  here  that  the  President  stands  when  holding  recep- 
tions, the  ceremonial  of  which  is  described  elsewhere,  and  here  President  and  Mrs. 
Cleveland  were  married  in  1886. 

The  Red  Room,  west  of  the  Blue  Room,  a  square  room  of  the  same  si/e  as  the 

Green  Parlor,   has  a  more  home-like   look  than  the  others,   by  reason  of  its  piano. 

mantel  ornaments,  abundant  furniture,  and  pictures,  and  the  fact  that 

Red  Room.       it  is  used  ao  a  reception-room  and  private  parlor  by  the  ladies  of  the 

mansion.     The  prevailing  tone  is  Pompeiian  red,  and  the  walls  are 

covered  with  portraits,  as  follows . 

A  full-length  of  President  Arthur,  by  Daniel  Huntington,  N.  A. 

A  full-length  of  Cleveland,  by  Eastman  Johnson. 

A  full-length  of  Benjamin  Harrison,  by  Eastman  Johnson,  1895. 

A  half-length  of  James  A.  Buchanan. 

A  half -length  of  Martin  Van  Buren,  by  Healy. 

A  half-length  of  Zachary  Taylor,  by  Healy. 

A  half-length  of  John  Adams,  by  Healy. 

All  these  rooms  open  upon  the  corridor  running  lengthwise  the  building  and  sepa- 
rated from  the  vestibule  by  a  partition  of  glass,  which  President  Arthur  prevailed 
upon  Congress  to  order,  to  replace  an  old  wooden  one.  "The  light  coming  through 
the'  partition  of  wrinkled  stained-glass  mosaic  makes  a  marvelously  rich  and  gorgeous 
effect,  falling  upon  the  gilded  niches  where  stand  dwarf  palmetto  trees,  the  silvery 
network  of  the  ceiling,  and  the  sumptuous  furniture."  In  this  corridor  hang  several 
portraits  of  Presidents,  including  a  full-length  of  Washington,  by  an  Ecuadorian  artist, 


tED  ROOM. 


AT  THE  EXECUTIVE  MANSION.  97 

Cadena  of  Quito,  and  presented  by  him ;  and  of  Polk,  Garfield  (by  Andrews),  Hayes, 
Fillmore,  Tyler,  Grant  (by  Le  Clair),  and  Jackson  — one  of  Andrews'  early  efforts. 
Many  of  the  older  ones  are  by  Healy,  who  painted  portraits  of  Presidents  J.  Q.  Adams, 
Tvler,  Jackson,  Van  Buren,  Taylor,  Fillmore,  Polk,  Pierce,  Buchanan,  Lincoln,  and 
Grant.  Each  President  is  supposed  to  leave  his  portrait  here. 

The  State  Dining-room  is  at  the  south  end  of  this  corridor,  on  the  . 

left,  in  the  corner  of  the  house.  It  measures  40  by  30  feet,  and  is  in  Mate  Dlmn£- 
the  Colonial  style,  the  prevailing  colors  being  a  dull  yellow,  meant  room. 

to  light  up  warmly  under  gaslight. 

''The  ceiling  is  surrounded  with  a  frieze  of  garlands,  about  3%  feet  wide,  with 
medallions  at  intervals.  From  these  wreaths  and  vines  run  to  the  chandeliers.  Beneath 
the  cornice  is  a  heavy  frieze  about  four  feet  in  width,  which  blende  into  the  wall, 
with  garlands  of  native  vines,  leaves,  and  fruits.  .  .  .  The  general  character 
of  the  work  is  known  as  'applique  relief,'  which  is  produced  by  blending  transparent 
colors  on  a  light  ground,  .  .  .  the  effect  being  greatly  increased  by  the  fact 
that  the  various  colors  and  figures  are  'edged  up'  in  relief  to  imitate  the  corded 
or  raised  work  in  applique.  .  .  .  State  dinners  are  usually  given  once  or  twice 
a  week  during  the  winter,  and  are  brilliant  affairs.  Lavish  use  is  made  of  plants  and 
flowers  from  the  conservatories,  and  the  table,  laden  with  a  rare  display  of  plate, 
porcelain,  and  cut-gla».  pivsi-nts  a  beautiful  appearance,  forming  an  effective  setting 
for  the  gay  toilets  of  the  ladies  and  their  glittering  jewels.  The  table  service  is  exceed- 
ingly beautiful,  and  is  adorned  with  various  representations  of  the  flora  and  fauna 
of  America.  The  new  set  of  cut-glass  was  made  at  White  Mills,  Pa.,  and  is  regarded 
as  the  finest  ever  produced  in  this  country.  It  consists  of  520  separate  pieces,  and 
was  especially  ordered  by  the  Government  for  the  White  House.  On  each  piece 
of  the  set,  from  the  mammoth  centerpiece  and  punch  bowl  to  tlie  tiny  saltcellars, 
is  en-raved  the  coat  of  arms  of  the  United  States.  The  execution  of  the  order  occu- 
pied several  months,  and  cost  $6,000.  The  table  can  be  made  to  accommodate  as  many 
as  fifty-four  persons,  but  the  usual  number  of  guests  is  from  thirty  to  forty." 

The  western  door  of  the  corridor  leads  into  the  conservatory,  which  is  always  in 
flourishing  beauty  ;  and  opposite  the  state  dining-room  is  the  private  or  family  dining- 
room,  a  cozy  apartment  looking  out  upon  the  avenue.  The  private  stairway  is  near  its 
door.  A  butler's  pantry,  a  small  waiting-room  at  the  right  of  the  vestibule,  and  an 
elevator  complete  the  list  of  rooms  on  this  main  floor 

The  basement  is  given  up  entirely  to  the  kitchen,  storerooms,  and  servants' 
quarters. 

The  business  offices  of  the  President  and  his  secretaries  are  on  the  second  floor,  at 
the  ea-tern  end.  and  are  reached  by  a  stairway  at  the  left  of  the  vestibule.     At  the  head 
of  the  stairway  sits  a  messenger  who  directs  persons  into  the  large  ante- 
room, which  is  in  reality  a  hallway  of  the  house,  and  to  the  door  of  the       President's 
office  of  the  Secretary  to  the  President,  who  occupies  the  corner  room  Office. 

southeast. 

The  President's  office  is  next  to  that  of  his  private  secretary  —  a  large,  plain,  com- 
fortably furnished  room,  lined  with  cases  of  books  of  law  and  reference.  His  great  desk 
is  at  the  southern  end  of  the  room,  and  the  President  sits  with  his  back  to  the  window, 
which  commands  a  wide  view  down  the  Potomac.  The  massive  oak  table  here  is  made 
from  timbers  of  the  Resolute,  a  British  ship  abandoned  in  the  Arctic  ice  while  searching 
for  Sir  John  Franklin,  in  1854,  but  recovered  by  American  whalers  ;  it  is  a  gift  from 
Queen  Victoria. 

The  Cabinet  Room  is  next  beyond,  immediately  over  the  Green  Room  —  another 
plain,  handsome,  rather  dark  apartment,  with  a  long  table  down  the  center  surrounded 


PICTOftlAL   GUIDE   TO   WASHINGTON. 


by  armchairs.     The  President  sits  at  the  southern  end  of  the  table,  with  the  Secretary 

of  State  on  his  right,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  on  his  left,  and  the 
Cabinet  others  farther  down  the  table.  The  more  or  less  valuable  portraits  of 

Room.  several  past  Presidents  look  down  upon  them  from  the  walls. 

The  Executive  Mansion  is  well  guarded.  A  large  force  of  watchmen, 
including  police  officers,  is  on  duty  inside  the  mansion  at  all  hours,  and  a  continuous 
patrol  is  maintained  by  the  local  police  of  the  grounds  immediately  surrounding  the 
mansion.  As  an  additional  safeguard,  automatic  alarm  signals  are  fixed  in  different 
parts  of  the  house,  and  there  are  telephones  and  telegraphs  to  the  military  posts,  so 
that  a  strong  force  of  police  and  soldiers  could  be  obtained  almost  at  a  moment's  notice. 
The  inadequacy  of  the  White  House  as  a  residence  for  the  President  of  the  United 
States  has  long  been  recognized.  It  is  crowded,  inconvenient,  and  wholly  unadapted 

to  such  dignity  and  occasions  of  public  ceremony  as  the  nation  demands 
A  New  of  its  chief.  There  is  not  even  accommodation  for  visitors,  so  that  guests 

White  House*  of  the  nation  must  be  sent  to  a  hotel.  Many  suggestions  and  more  or 

less  elaborate  plans  have  been  made  for  a  new  and  proper  President's 
residence,  which  should  be  entirely  separate  from  the  Executive  offices,  for  which  the 
present  White  House  might  properly  be  reserved.  Most  of  these  proposals  contemplate 
a  magnificent  edifice  on  Meridian  Hill,  200  feet  in  elevation,  at  the  head  of  Sixteenth 
Street.  One  such  proposition,  designed  by  Mary  Henderson  Foote  and  Paul  J.  Pel/,  is 
illustrated  herewith.  It  proposes  a  building  in  an  ornate  American  adaptation  of  the 
Roman  classic  style  of  architecture,  and  constructed  of  white  marble,  with  grand 
approaches.  The  west  wing  would  be  devoted  to  the  home  of  the  President's  family, 
and  the  east  wing  to  suitable  accommodation  for  the  nation's  guests;  while  the  central 
part,  and  the  ground  floor  of  the  east  wing,  extended  by  elaborate  conservatories,  would 
be  devoted  to  a  series  of  state  apartments,  in  which  grand  ceremonies  and  entertainments 
might  be  adequately  arranged  and  carried  out. 


PROPOSED  EXECUTIVE  MANSION. —  Paul  J.  Pelz,  Architect. 


VII. 
THE  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENTS. 

The  Executive  Departments  are  those  over  which  the  Cabinet  officers  preside,  and  in 
which  the  daily  administration  of  the  Government  is  carried  on.  There  have  not 
always  been  so  many,  nor  have  they  always  been  known  by  their  present  names  ;  and  it 
is  only  recently,  under  the  law  of  1886,  prescribing  the  order  of  succession  to  the 
Presidency,  that  any  authoritative  sequence  could  be  observed  in  the  list,  which  is  now 
as  follo\v>: 

The  Department  of  State,  presided  over  by  the  Honorable  the  Secretary  of  State. 

The  Treasury  Department,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

The  War  Department,  the  Secretary  of  War.  List  Of 

The  Department  of  Justice,  the  Attorney- General.  Departments. 

The  Post  Office  Department,  the  Postmaster-General. 

The  Navy  Department,  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

The  Department  of  the  Interior,  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 

The  Department  of  Agriculture,  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture. 

All  these  are  situated  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the  Executive  Mansion, 
except  those  of  the  Post  Office,  Interior,  and  Agriculture. 

The  Departments  are  the  business  offices  of  the  Government,  and  "  politics"  has  much 
less  to  do  with  their  practical  conduct  than  the  popular  clamor  would  lead  one  to  sup- 
pose. The  occasional  shirk  or  blatherskite  makes  himself  noticed,  but  the  average 
employe,  from  head  to  foot  of  the  list,  faithfully  attends  to  his  business  and  does 
his  work.  This  must  be  so,  or  the  business  of  the  nation  could  not  be  carried  on  ;  and 
otherwise,  men  and  women  would  not  grow  gray  in  its  service,  as  they  are  doing, 
because  their  fidelity  and  skill  can  not  be  spared  so  long  as  their  strength  holds  out. 
Year  by  year,  with  the  growth  of  intelligence  and  the  extension  of  the  civil  service  idea 
and  practice,  "politics"  has  less  and  less  to  do  with  the  practical  administration  of  the 
business  of  the  nation  at  its  capital;  and  year  by  year,  better  and  more  economical 
methods  and  results  are  achieved.  No  civil  pensions  have  yet  been  established  as  the 
further  reward  of  long  and  faithful  service. 

The  Department  of  State  stands  first  on  the  list,  and  occupies  the  south  and  noblest 
front  of  the  State,  War,  and  Navy  Building  —  that  towering  pile  of  granite  west  of  the 
White  House,  which  has  been  so  honestly  admired  by  the  populace  and 
so  often  condemned  by  critics.     The  architect  was  A.  B.  Mullet,  who  had      Department 
a  great  fondness  for  the  "Italian  renaissance,"  as  is  shown  by  the  post  of  State. 

offices  of  New  York  and  Boston,  and  by  other  public  edifices  executed 
while  he  was  supervising  architect  of  the  Treasury.  This  building  is  471  feet  long  by 
253  feet  wide,  and  surrounds  a  paved  courtyard  containing  engine-houses,  etc.  It  is 
built,  outwardly,  of  granite  from  Virginia  and  Maine,  and  the  four  facades  are  substan- 
tially alike,  though  the  south  front,  where  space  and  slope  of  the  ground  favors,  has  a 
grander  entrance  than  the  other  sides.  The  building  was  begun  in  1871  and  not  wholly 
finished  until  1893,  covers  four  and  a  half  acres,  contains  two  miles  of  corridors,  and 
cost  $10,700,000.  It  is  in  charge  of  a  superintendent,  responsible  to  a  commission  com- 
posed of  the  three  Secretaries  occupying  it. 

99 


100  PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO 

All  of  the  apartments  of  the  "foreign  office  "  are  elegant,  and  one  fancies  he  sees  a 
greater  formality  and  dignity,  as  certainly  there  is  more  of  studious  quiet,  here  than  in 
any  other  department.     The  Secretary  and  assistant  secretaries  occupy  a 
Foreign  line  of  handsome  offices  in  the  second  story,  looking  southward  across 

Office.  the  park,  among  which  is  the  long  and  stately  room  assigned  to  confer- 

ences with  representatives  of  foreign  governments,  or  similar  meetings, 
and  hence  called  the  Diplomatic  Room.  An  opportunity  to  inspect  this  should  be 
accepted,  if  only  to  obtain  a  sight  of  the  likenesses  of  the  past  Secretaries  of  State,  with 
which  its  walls  are  almost  covered.  All  of  these  portraits  are  by  men  of  talent,  and 
some  are  of  superior  merit :  That  of  Clay,  by  E.  D.  Marchant,  and  those  of  Fish  and 
Frelinghuysen,  by  Huntington,  are  especially  praised.  Lord  Ashburton  is  here  also, 
beside  Webster  —  his  great  coadjutor  in  the  adjudication  of  the  boundary  between  the 
United  States  and  Canada.  This  room,  the  furniture,  rugs,  and  hangings  of  which  are 
dark  and  elegant,  is  said  to  have  been  arranged  by  Secretary  Hamilton  Fish.  Near  by 
is  another  elegant  apartment  —  the  Diplomatic  Ante-room,  where  foreign  dignitaries 
await  audience  with  the  premier. 

The  show  room  of  the  department,  however,  is  the  library,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
several  curious  objects  formerly  exhibited  there  are  no  longer  on  view. 

The  precious  original  drafts  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  of  the  Constitu- 
tion were  disintegrating  and  fading  under  exposure  to  the  light,  and  have  been  shut  up 
in  a  steel  safe,  after  having  been  hermetically  sealed  between  plates  of 
"  State  "  glass,  which  arrangement,  it  is  hoped,  will  stop  their  decay.     A  precise 

Library  facsimile  of  the  Declaration,  made  about  1820,  hangs  upon  the  library 

and  Relics.  wall.  The  Great  Seal  and  certain  curious  early  treaties  of  oriental  and 
barbarous  states  are  no  longer  exhibited.  Here  may  be  seen,  however, 
the  war  sword  of  Washington  —  the  identical  weapon  he  was  accustomed  to  wear  in 
camp  and  campaign  ;  and  the  sword  of  Jackson,  at  New  Orleans  —  broken,  to  be  sure, 
but  mended  by  a  skillful  armorer,  and  not  by  himself  at  a  blacksmith's  forge,  as  the  old 
story  relates.  Jefferson's  writing-desk  (at  which,  tradition  says,  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  was  drafted),  Franklin's  staff  and  buttons  from  his  court  dress,  a  lor- 
gnette given  by  Washington  to  Lafayette,  a  copy  of  the  Pekin  Gazette,  which  has  been 
printed  continuously,  as  a  daily  newspaper,  since  the  eighth  century,  and  several  other 
personal  relics  and  historical  curiosities  will  reward  the  visitor. 

The  library  itself  is  a  very  notable  one,  equal  to  those  of  the  governments  of  Great 
Britain  and  France  in  importance  as  a  collection  of  books  of  international  law  and 
diplomacy.  Cognate  works,  such  as  biographies,  histories,  and  travels  of  a  certain  sort, 
supplement  this  central  collection,  and  the  whole  now  includes  some  60, 000  volumes. 
Its  purpose  is  to  serve  as  a  reference  library  for  the  department.  It  also  includes  a 
great  quantity  of  the  papers  of  public  men  of  the  past,  which  have  been  acquired  by 
purchase  or  otherwise,  and  are  distinct  from  the  correspondence -archives  of  the  depart- 
ment. For  the  papers  of  Washington  (bound  into  336  volumes)  $45,000  was  paid  in 
1834  and  1849  ;  for  the  Madison  papers  (75  vols.,  1848)  $25,000  ;  for  the  Jefferson  MSS. 
(137vols.,  1848)  $20,000;  and  for  the  Monroe  papers  (22  vols.,  1849)  $20,000.  More 
recently  have  been  acquired  the  papers  of  Hamilton  (65  vols.),  of  Benjamin  Franklin 
(32  vols.,  $35,000),  and  extensive  records  of  the  Revolutionary  army. 

The  War  Department  has  quarters  in  the  same  great  building,  occupying  the  west- 
ern and  part  of  the  northern  front,  as  is  indicated  by  the  cannons  lying  upon  the  but- 
tresses of  the  porches.     The  Secretary  and  Assistant  Secretary  of  War, 
War  Office,     the  General  of  the  army,  and  several  military  bureaus  have  their  offices 
there,  but  none  of  them  are  open,  of  course,  to  the  casual  visitor.    At 
the  head  of  the  staircase,  near  the  northwestern  corner,  are  models  of  certain  arms  and 


102  PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 

ordnance,.  .ar>,d  of  wagons,  ambulances,  etc.,  and  also  two  showcases  of  life-size  lay  fig- 
ures exhibiting  the  uniforms  of  various  ranks  in  the  Revolutionary  army.  The  wall  of 
the  staircase  is  embellished  with  portraits  of  past  Secretaries,  and  in  the  corridor  and 
ante-rooms  of  the  Secretary's  office  are  other  paintings,  including  grand  portraits  of 
Grant,  Sherman,  and  Sheridan,  by  Daniel  C.  Huntington.  The  Washington  portrait 
here  is  one  of  Stuart's  copies  from  his  original  study. 

The  old  Winder  building,  on  the  opposite  side  of  Seventeenth  Street,  erected  many 
years  ago  by  Gen.  Wm.  H.  Winder,  an  army  officer  who  distinguished  himself  in  the 
early  part  of  the  War  of  1812,  and  commanded  the  troops  here  in  1814,  was  intended 
for  a  hotel.  It  was  taken  for  offices  of  the  War  Department,  however,  and  has  been  so 
occupied  ever  since.  In  it  General  Halleck  had  his  office  and  the  staff  headquarters  of 
the  army  during  the  Civil  War,  Secretary  Stanton's  office  being  in  the  building  demol- 
ished to  make  room  for  the  present  structure. 

General    Grant's    Headquarters,     when,    after    the   war,    he    lived    in 
Grant's  Washington  in  command  of  the  army,  were  in  the  large  house  with  the 

Head*  high  stoop  on  the  opposite  or  southeast  corner  of  Seventeenth  and  F 

quarters.          streets.     It  is  now  a  private  residence.     McClellan's  headquarters  during 
the  early  half  of  the  war  were  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Lafayette 
Square,  now  the  Cosmos  clubhouse. 

The  Navy  Department  has  possession  of  the  remaining  third  of  the  building,  with  an 
entrance  facing  the  White  House,  signified  by  anchors  upon  the  portico.  The  Secretary 
and  Assistant  Secretary  preside  over  ten  bureaus,  whose  chiefs  are  detailed  officers  of 
the  navy.  These  are  : 

1.  Bureau  of  Navigation,  having  the  practical  control  of  the  ships  and  men  in  actual 
service,  and  including  the  Hydrographic  Office  and  Naval  Academy  at  Annapolis,  but 
not  the  War  College  at  Newport.  2.  Bureau  of  Yards  and  Docks.  3. 
Bureaus  Of  Bureau  of  Equipment,  which  has  charge,  among  other  things,  of  the 
the  Navy.  Naval  Observatory,  the  Nautical  Almanac,  and  the  Compass  Office. 
4.  Bureau  of  Ordnance.  5.  Bureau  of  Construction  and  Repair.  6. 
Bureau  of  Steam  Engineering.  7.  Bureau  of  Medicine  and  Surgery,  under  whose 
supervision  is  maintained  a  Museum  of  Hygiene,  in  the  Old  Naval  Observatory,  which 
is  interesting  to  specialists.  8.  Bureau  of  Supplies  and  Accounts  (but  the  Navy  Pay 
Office  is  at  No.  1729  New  York  Avenue).  9.  Office  of  the  Judge  Advocate  General  - 
the  department's  law  officer.  10.  Office  of  the  Commandant  of  the  Marine  Corps,  who 
is  responsible  directly  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy.  By  the  time  a  ship  is  built, 
equipped,  armed,  and  manned,  she  has  gone  through  every  one  of  these  bureaus,  and 
must  have  had  a  good  pilot  if  she  escaped  being  dashed  to  pieces  against  some  of  their 
regulations,  or  crushed  by  collision  of  authority  between  their  chiefs. 

The  models  of  ships,  on  view  in  the  corridor  near  the  entrance  and  on  the  next  floor 
above,  form  an  exhibit  of  great  interest,  graphically  displaying  the  difference  between 
the  early  wooden  frigates  and  line-of-battle  ships  and  the  modern  steel 
Models.  cruisers  and  turreted  men-of-war.     These  models  ought  not  to  be  over- 

looked ;  the  library,  also,  is  well  worth  attention,  on  account  of  the  por- 
traits of  departed  Secretaries,  as  well  as  for  the  sake  of  its  professional  books. 

The  financial  department  and  the  actual  treasuiy  of  the  Government  are  housed  in  the 
imposing  but  somewhat  gloomy  building  which  closes  the  vista  up  Pennsylvania  A  venue 
from  the  Capitol,  and  which  nearly  adjoins  the  White  House  park  on  the 
Treasury          east.     This  structure,  which,  suitably  to  the  alleged  American  worship 
Building1.          of  money,  has  been  given  the  form  of  a  pagan  temple,  is  of  the  Ionic- 
Greek   order  of  architecture  modified  to  suit  local  requirements.     The 
main  building,  with  its  long  pillared  front  on  Fifteenth  Street,  was  erected  of  Virginia 


104  PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 

sandstone,  after  plans  by  Robert  Mills,  and  completed  in  1841.  Some  years  later  exten- 
sions were  undertaken  under  the  architectural,  direction  of  Thomas  U.  Walter,  which 
enlarged  the  building  greatly,  produced  the  magnificent  granite  porticos  at  each  end, 
and  resulted  in  the  beautifully  designed  western  fa9ade.  The  whole  building,  completed 
in  1869,  is  466  feet  long  and  264  wide  exclusive  of  the  porticos,  incloses  two  courts,  and 
has  cost  about  $10,000,000. 

The  Treasury  is  a  place  every  stranger  visits.  The  building  is  open  from  9  till 
2  ;  and  between  11  and  12  and  1  and  2  o'clock,  persons  who  assemble  at  the  office  of 
the  Treasurer  are  formed  into  parties,  and  conducted  to  the  doors  of  certain  rooms,  where 
the  guides  volubly  explain  the  work  in  progress  there. 

Thus  you  may  see  the  girls  counting  and  recounting  the  sheets  of  specially  made  paper 
upon  which  all  the  United  States  bonds,  notes,  and  revenue  stamps  are  printed  ;  this  is 
the  beginning  of  the  long  routine  of  "  money  making,"  and  not  one  must 
Paper  for  go  unaccounted  for.  This  paper  is  made  of  components  and  by  a  com- 
Sccuritics.  position  which  is  a  secret  between  the  Government  and  the  manufac- 
turers at  Dalton,  near  Pittsfield,  Mass.  It  is  especially  distinguished  by 
the  silk  fibers  interwoven  with  its  texture,  and,  as  a  part  of  the  monopoly  of  the  manu- 
facture of  United  States  money  retained  by  the  Federal  Government,  the  possession 
of  any  such  paper  by  private  persons  is  prohibited  under  severe  penalties,  as  prima  facie 
evidence  of  intent  to  defraud.  The  packages  of  1,000  sheets,  each  of  the  proper  size  for 
printing  four  notes,  are  deftly  counted  and  carefully  examined  by  young  women,  whom 
long  practice  has  made  wonderfully  expert.  When  every  imperfect  sheet  has  been  picked 
out  and  replaced  by  a  good  one,  the  packages  are  sent  to  the  printer  (see  Bureau  of 
Engraving  and  Printing). 

Next  you  may  be  shown  the  large  room  to  which  piles  of  similar  sheets,  printed  with 
the  faces  and  backs  of  notes  of  various  denominations  from  $1  to  $1,000,  have  been 
returned,  to  receive  here,  upon  small  steam  presses,  the  red  seal,  which 
Treasury          completes  the  value  of  the  paper  as  a  promise  to  pay. 
Notes*  These  notes,  to  the  amount  of  about  $1,000,000  in  value,  on  the  average, 

are  brought  over  from  the  Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Printing  each  morn- 
ing, being  conveyed  in  a  steel-encased  wagon,  guarded  by  armed  messengers.  They  are 
first  counted  by  three  persons  in  succession,  to  reduce  to  the  vanishing  point  the  proba- 
bility of  error,  and  then  are  sent  to  the  sealing-room  mentioned  above,  where  the  sheets 
of  four  unseparated  notes  are  passed  through  the  small  steam  presses  that  place  upon 
them  the  red  seal  of  the  Treasury  of  North  America,  or,  as  it  is  written  in  abbreviated 
Latin  upon  the  seal  itself  :  Thesaur.  Amer.  Septent.  Sigil. 

United  States  Treasury  notes  bear  the  engraved  facsimiles  of  the  signatures  of  the 
United  States  Treasurer  and  the  Register  of  the  Treasury;  but  national  bank  notes  are 
actually  signed  in  ink  by  the  president  and  cashier  of  the  bank  issuing  them.  The  latter 
are  sent  to  the  banks  and  receive  these  signatures  before  receiving  the  red  seal,  for 
which  purpose  they  must  be  returned  here,  the  banks  defraying  the  express  charges. 

It  is  in  the  room  adjoining  this  that  the  visitor  sees  that  marvelous  development  of 

the  human  hand  and  eye  which  enables  the  ladies  intrusted  with  the  final  counting  of 

Uncle  Sam's  paper  money  to  do  so  with  a  rapidity  that  is  absolutely 

Cutting  the       bewildering  to  the  beholder.     As  soon  as  the  seals  have  been  printed  upon 

Sheets.  a  package  of  1,000   sheets  of  notes,  these  are  taken  to  another  little 

machioe,  which  slices  them  apart,  replacing  the  hand  shears,  to  whose 

use,  in  General  Spinners  day,  according  to  tradition,  is  due  the  introduction  of  female 

assistance  in  the  departmental  service.     This  produces  4, 000  notes  which  are  tied  up 

into  a  standard  "  package,"  and  laid  upon  the  table  of  the  first  clerk  to  whom  they  go 

for  final  inspection  and  counting.     Untying  a  package  and  holding  it  by  her  left  hand, 


THE  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENTS.  105 

with  the  face  of  the  notes  upward,  she  lifts  the  right  hand  end  of  every  one  of  the  4,000 
notes,  scans  it  for  imperfections  in  texture,  printing,  sealing,  or  cutting,  sees  that  it  is 
numbered  in  due  order,  and  that  none  is  missing. 

That  all  this  can  be  done,  and  done  day  after  day  and  month  after  month,  with 
unwearied  vigilance,  discernment,  and  accuracy,  is  sufficiently  extraordinary — since 
habitual  application  to  routine  work  is  likely  to  breed  not  only  careless- 
ness, but  a  sort  of  mental  blindness  ;  but  when  to  this  is  added  a  speed  so  Expert 
extraordinary  that  a  counter  passes  on  the  average  32,000  notes  each  work-  Counting. 
ing-day,  the  performance  becomes  one  of  the  most  wonderful  in  the  range 
of  human  industry.  It  would  seem  that  the  eye  could  scarcely  form  an  image  in  the 
brain  of  any  single  note  as  it  flies  through  the  fingers,  yet  so  trained  and  sensitive  have 
these  women  become,  that  the  slightest  irregularity  of  form  or  color  is  noted,  and  each 
imperfect  note  is  rejected,  destroyed,  and  replaced  by  a  perfect  one  from  a  reserve 
supply. 

The  rapid  counting  is  facilitated  —  only  made  possible,  in  truth  —  by  the  fact  that 
the  notes,  as  they  fall  from  the  cutting  machine,  lie  in  exact  rotation  of  numbers  (in  the 
upper  right-hand  corner),  so  that  the  counter  need  only  take  cogni/ance  of  the  final  unit, 
sure  that  as  long  as  these  run  continuously  there  is  no  mistake.  Having  observed,  for 
example,  that  her  package  began  87,654,320,  that  the  units  were  repeated  continuously 
in  order.  1.  2.  :!.  4.  •">.  6,  7,  8,  9,  10,  1,  2,  3,  4,  etc.,  and  the  package  ended  87,658,320,  the 
counter  could  be  sure  it  was  full  and  regular.  To  guard  against  any  possible  mistake, 
however.  \\\oc  packagesgo  through  the  hands  of  five  successive  counters  before  the 
la>t  of  the  fifty-two  countings  to  which  the  sheets  and  notes  are  subjected  is  concluded, 
and  the  notes  are  ivady  for  i->ue.  Kaeh  person  to  whom  the  packages  are  temporarily 
intrusted  is  obliged  to  receipt  for  them,  so  that  their  history  maybe  traced  from  the 
paper  mills  to  the  cashier's  de>k. 

Kurh  package,  as  it  comes  from  the  last  counter,  contains  4,000  notes  ;  but  as  these  may 
vary  from  $1  to  $1,000  in  denomination,  the  value  of  the  package  may  be  $4,000,  $8,000, 
S2IUMM).  !?4n,iMK),  $80,000,  $400,000,  or  $4,000,000.  Each  package  is  now  wrapped  in 
brown  paper,  sealed  with  wax  impressed  with  the  Treasury  seal,  and  placed  in  the 
currency  reserve  vault  of  the  cashier  of  the  department  of  issue;  and  the  amount 
receipted  for  by  the  keeper  of  the  vault  (averaging  $1,000,000  a  day)  must  correspond 
each  evening  exactly  with  the  amount  received  the  same  morning  from  the  Bureau  of 
Engraving  and  Printing. 

These  pn-tty  notes,  the  representatives  of  the  hard  cash  stored  in  the  vaults,  reach  the 
public  only  through  the  Cash  Room,  a  large  apartment  on  the  main  floor,  walled  with  a 
great  variety  of  exquisite  native  and  foreign  marbles,  and  provided  with 
a  public  gallery,  whence  all    its  operations  maybe  overlooked;  but  vis-    Cash  Room. 
itors  ought  to  keep  very  quiet.     Here  tightly  bound  packages  of  notes  of 
a  single  denomination,  each  containing  4,000  bills,  are  prepared  for  shipment  to  the  sub- 
trrasuries  and  other  financial  agents  of  the  Government,  or,  with  the  loose  cash  needed, 
are  paid  out  over  the  counter.     The  business  is  that  of  an  ordinary  bank,  or,  rather,  of 
an  extraordinary  one,   for  checks  of  enormous  value  are  frequently  cashed  here  —  one 
reaching  as  high  as  $10,000,000. 

When  the  various  legal-tender  notes  (greenbacks,  silver  certificates,  treasury  notes,  or 
gold  certificates)  are  sent  in  for  redemption,  they  go  into  the  redemption  division,  where 
they  are  counted  and  sorted  into  packages  — again  by  the  quick  fingers 
of  women.     These  packages  are  then  irretrievably  mutilated  by  punches,      Redemption 
sliced  lengthwise,  and  each  half  is  counted  separately  by  other  clerks.  Office. 

If  all  proves  to  be  right  (an  error  is  quickly  traceable),  a  receipt  is  given, 
enabling  the  cashier  to  give  back  new  notes  in  exchange  for  the  old  ones,  or  reissue  to 


106 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE   TO   WASHINGTON. 


the  public  in  coin,  an  amount  equal  to  what  has  been  presented  that  day  for  redemption. 
Sometimes  the  mere  fragments,  or  soaked  or  charred  remains,  of  bank  notes  are  sent  in, 
but  if  the  evidence  of  good  faith  satisfies  the  chief,  and  the  amount  can  be  verified, 
crisp,  new  notes  are  sent  to  the  owner  in  return. 

This  opens  a  door  for  fraud,  which  rascals  have  tried  to  enter,  but  they  have  rarely 
succeeded.  In  the  office  of  the  present  United  States  Treasurer,  alongside  his  little 
receipt  to  his  predecessor  for  $750,000,000,  or  thereabouts,  the  amount  taken  into  custody 
by  him,  may  be  seen,  framed,  what  purports  to  be  a  $500  bill,  made  up  of  sixteen  pieces 
cut  from  various  parts  of  sixteen  other  genuine  $500  bills  which  had  been  sent  in  and 
redeemed  as  "mutilated."  These  reserved  fragments,  combined,  made  a  seventeenth 
bill,  which  perhaps  might  have  been  accepted  also,  had  it  been  less  clumsily  fabricated. 

Finally,  the  old  bills,  punched  and  cut  in  two  (see  above),  are  sent  to  carefully 
guarded  maceraters  —  one  in  the  Treasury  Building  for  the  destruction  of  the  old 
national  bank  notes,  and  another  for  the  destruction  of  United  States  notes,  at  the 
Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Printing ;  there  they  are  ground  into  wet  pulp  by  means  of 
machines  called  maceraters. 


CURRENCY  DESTRUCTION  COMMITTEE. 

The  maceraters  are  globe-shaped  receptacles  of  steel,  having  the  capacity  of  a  ton  of 
pulp,  the  top  of  which  opens  by  a  lid  secured  by  three  different  Yale  locks.     The  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury  has   the  key  of  one  lock,  the  Treasurer  that  of 
Maceration,      another,  and  the  Comptroller  of  the  Treasury  the  third.     Each  day  at 
IP.  M.  ,  these  officials  or  their  representatives,  with  a  fourth  agent  to  rep- 
resent the  people  and  banks,  open  the  macerater,  and  place  within  it  the  million  dollars 
or  so  of  condemned  currency  or  other  securities  which  is  to  be  destroyed,  together  with  a 
suitable  quantity  of  water.     The  lid  is  then  locked  in  the  three  places,  and  machinery 
begins  to  whirl  around  inside  of  the  macerater  a  series  of  150  knives  which  grind  and 
cut  the  soaking  material  until  the  notes  are  reduced  to  shreds  and  useless  pulp.     Once 


THE  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENTS.  107 

in  four  or  five  days  the  committee  unlocks  a  valve  and  lets  the  accumulated  pulp  run 
out  into  screening  receptacles.  It  is  thence  taken  to  the  Bureau  of  Engraving  and 
Printing,  where  it  is  rolled  and  dried  into  thick  sheets  and  sold.  Samples  of  it,  now 
and  then,  are  disposed  of  to  be  made  into  the  queer  little  figures  sold  as  curiosities  and 
"supposed  to  contain"  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  or  so. 

On  one  of    the  upper  floors  the  Life-saving  Service  has  a  series  of  models  and 
specimens  of  the  apparatus  used  in  saving  the  lives  of  shipwrecked  marines,  which  can 
usually  be  seen ;  in  the  office  of  the  Supervising  Architect  are  many 
"  highly  executed  drawings  of  elevations  and  plans  of  the  public  build-     Branches  of 
ings   erected  by  the  United  States,  interesting  to  architects  and  civil  the  Treasury. 
engineers;"  the  Department  library  has  20,000  volumes,  and  is  open 
to  visitors;  and,  lastly,  a  proper  introduction  will  enable  the  visitor  who  is  curious  in 
criminal  matters  to  inspect  the  rogues'  gallery  and  police  museum  of  the  Secret  Service, 
which  deals  with  counterfeiters,  smugglers,  "  moonshiners  "  or  illicit  distillers. 

The  Department  of  Justice  and  the  Court  of  Claims,  which  attend  to  suits  against 
the  Government,  and  give  legal  advice  to  its  officers,  occupy  rented  quarters,  having 
no  building  of  their  own.    The  former  is  on  K  Street,  between  Vermont 
Avenue  and  Fifteenth  Street,  where  the  Attorney-General  has  his  office.  Justice. 

The  Court  of  Claims  occupies  the  old  Corcoran  Gallery  at  Pennsylvania 
Avenue  and  Seventeenth  Street. 

The  General  Post  Office  began  in  a  postal  system  organized  in  the  American  colonies 
as  early  a>  1692  by  patent  to  Thomas  Neale.  This  expired  in  1710,  when  the  English 
postal  >\  -tem  was  extended  to  the  colonies,  and  it  slowly  grew  until,  in  1758,  Benjamin 
Franklin  was  appointed  Deputy  Postmaster-General  for  the  Colonies.  The  Revolution 
overthrew  the  royal  mail,  hut  when  peace  came  the  Continental  Congress  established 
a  new  system,  and  put  Franklin  again  in  charge  of  the  first  United  States  mails.  Postage 
stamps  were  not  adopted  by  the  Government  until  1847,  and  until  lately  were  printed  by 
private  contractor-,  hut  are  now  made  at  the  Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Printing.  The 
first  building  for  this  department  wa-  burned  in  1836.  The  next  one,  occupied  for 
many  years  until  the  end  of  the  century,  was  the  Corinthian  structure  on  Seventh  Street, 
next  the  Patent  Office,  now  a  part  of  the  Department  of  the  Interior. 

The  present  Post  Office  is  a  modern  structure  on  the  south  side  of  Pennsylvania 
Avenue,  between  Kleventh  and  Twelfth  streets,  which  contains  both  the  General 
Department  and  the  City  Post  Office. 

This  building  was  authorized  by  Congress  in  1890,  and  the  site  was  Post  Office. 
purchased  in  1891  at  a  cost  of  $650,000.  The  designs  were  made  in  the 
office  of  the  Supervising  Architect  of  the  Treasury,  and  executed  under  its  direction  to 
the  completion  of  the  building  in  1899.  In  style  it  is  modified  Romanesque,  surmounted 
by  a  lofty,  square  clock  tower.  The  principal  material  is  granite  from  Fox  Island, 
Maine,  with  steel  columns  and  beams  for  the  interior  framework.  The  finish  is  in 
marble  from  Tennessee  and  Vermont,  varied  by  Red  African  and  mottled  Italian 
marbles,  with  quartered  oak  and  mahogany  for  the  woodwork.  The  building  measures 
5305  feet  long  by  200  feet  wide,  and  encloses  a  court,  roofed  over  by  a  skylight  180  feet 
long  by  99  feet  wide.  An  interior  skylight  covers  the  court  at  the  height  of  the  first 
story,  forming  an  immense  room  for  the  accommodation  of  the  City  Post  Office.  The 
total  cost  of  the  whole  building  was  $3,325,000. 

The  nine  upper  floors  are  devoted  to  the  business  of  the  Postmaster- General  and 
his  department.  These  are  open  to  the  public  from  9  A.  M.  until  2  P.  M.,  Qea(i  I  etter 
but  contain  nothing  of  interest  except  the  museum  of  the  Dead  Letter  Office 

Office,  which  occupies  Room  223  on  the  first  floor  above  the  street  — 
Twelfth  Street  side  —  and  is  open  daily  from  9  A.  M.  to  4  p.  M.    This  is  the  bureau  of  the 


108  PICTORIAL   GUIDE   TO   WASHINGTON. 

department  which  receives  and  handles  all  mail  that  can  not  be  delivered  to  its  intended 
recipients,  by  reason  of  lack  of  superscription,  or  improper  or  undecipherable  addressing, 
or  because  not  called  for  within  a  reasonable  time.  Six  or  seven  million  pieces  of  lost 
mail  are  thus  returned  to  this  office  annually,  and  examined.  If  any  clew  to  the  writer, 
or  owner,  or  addressee  can  be  found,  the  letter  or  package  is  at  once  sent  to  one  or  tin; 
other  of  these  persons.  Newspapers  are  destroyed.  Unidentified  packages  containing 
any  article  of  value  are  recorded  and  laid  aside  for  six  months,  at  the  expiration  of 
which  time  they  are  sold  at  auction,  and  the  money  received  is  turned  into  the  Treasury. 
The  Museum  of  the  Dead  Letter  Office  is  a  collection  of  the  extraordinary  objects 
sent  through  the  mails,  and  also  of  objects  and  papers  identified  with  the  postal  his- 
tory of  the  country.  The  most  striking  exhibit,  perhaps,  is  a  great 
Museum  Of  collection  of  uncanceled  postage  stamps  of  foreign  countries,  includ- 
Dead  Letter  ing  stamped  envelopes  and  post-cards,  which  have  been  sent  to  the 
Office*  American  Post  Office  Department  by  foreign  postal  authorities.  They 

are  elegantly  arranged  in  swinging  frames,  the  various  sets  embellished 
by  artistic  borders  and  other  ornaments.  There  are  also  complete  sets  of  American 
stamps,  and  philatelists  will  view  these  collections  with  extreme  interest,  and  estimate 
them  at  a  very  high  money  value.  Other  swinging  frames  contain  pictures  of  the 
finest  post  offices  in  this  country  and  abroad.  More  curious  is  a  large  series  of  small, 
life-like  models  showing  the  dress  and  accouterments  of  postmen  in  India,  China, 
Persia,  Japan,  and  other  far  Eastern  countries.  A  series  of  the  various  locks  and 
keys  used  for  mail  bags  is  shown ;  also  the  evolution  of  canceling  stamps.  Early 
records  of  the  Post  Office  fill  one  case,  among  them  a  set  of  accounts  kept  by  Benja- 
min Franklin  while  Colonial  Postmaster-General  in  1753 ;  also,  in  his  handwriting, 
the  earliest  record  of  the  Dead  Letter  Office,  date  1778.  The  stuffed  skin  of  "  Owney," 
the  nondescript,  shaggy  dog  who  for  several  years  spent  his  time  traveling  all  over 
this  and  other  countries  in  postal  cars,  or  loitering  about  post  offices,  is  preserved  in  one 
case  ;  it  was  the  fashion  to  give  him  a  "  medal,"  in  the  form  of  a  baggage  check  or  some 
similar  ornament,  wherever  he  went,  and  all  these  are  hung  about  his  body. 

The  most  extraordinary  part  of  the  little  museum,  however,  consists  of  the  miscel- 
laneous objects  that  have  been  lost  in   the  mails,   the  variety  of  which  is  endless. 
and   many  of  which  are  so  odd  as  to  provoke   laughter.     All   sorts 
Queer  of  small  animals,   stuffed,  dried,   in  alcohol,   and  otherwise  preserved, 

Things  Lost  are  here ;  a  human  skull  and  many  bones ;  surgical  instruments  and 
in  the  Mails,  medicines  in  abundance,  besides  a  great  array  of  pistols,  knives,  and 
other  death-dealing  implements.  Books  have  been  gathered  by  thou- 
sands, and  some  of  those  saved  for  show  here  include  valuable  volumes  in  many 
foreign  languages,  including  Arabic,  Chinese,  and  the  raised  text  for  the  blind.  Dolls 
and  toys  enough  to  furnish  half  a  dozen  kindergartens  might  be  taken  from  here, 
and,  in  short,  it  would  be  hard  to  find  a  path  of  industry  or  a  region  of  pleasure 
or  profit  of  which  some  reminder  might  not  be  found  among  this  queer  conglomer- 
ation of  lost  property. 

The  City  Post  Office  is  open  to  the  public  at  all  hours  of  the  day  or 
City  night ;  and  its  furnishings  embody  the  latest  improvements  in  postal 

Post  Office,     methods.     An  Information  Office  is  open  during  the  day  in  the  north- 
west corner  of  the  ground  floor. 

The  Department  of  the  Interior,  whose  principal  building  is  popularly  known  as  the 

Patent  Office,  manages  internal  or  domestic  affairs  —  the  relations  of  our  own  people 

with  the  Government.     Hence  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  is  charged 

Interior  with  the  supervision  of  public  business  relating  to  patents  for  inventions, 

Department,     pensions,  and  bounty  lands,  the  public  lands  and  surveys,  the  Indians, 


'^SSSET 

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!!      it 

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1113     ff    11 
riin  irr   r, 


111   i"    iU-Bi 

^  A 


NEW  GENERAL  POST  OFFICE— Pennsylvania  Avenue,  Eleventh  and  Twelfth  Streets. 


110  PICTORIAL   GUIDE   TO   WASHINGTON. 

education,  railroads,  the  geological  survey,  the  census,  the  national  parks,  reservations, 
and  various  of  the  public  institutions,  and  Territories. 

The  Secretary  and  his  assistants  have  their  offices  in  the  great  Doric- 
Patent  Greek  building,  covering  the  two  squares  reaching  from  Seventh  to  Ninth 
Office.  streets,  between  F  and  G,  which  everybody  calls  the  Patent  Office, 

because  designed  for  and  mainly  occupied  by  that  bureau. 

The  Hall  of  Models  is  still  a  spacious  room  on  the  main  floor,  but  the  removal  of  the 
historical  relics  to  the  National  Museum,  and  the  fire  of  1877,  which  destroyed  87,000 
models  and  some  600,000  drawings,  etc.,  have  left  little  worth  looking  at.  The  office 
has  issued  thus  far  about  600,000  patents,  and  its  earnings  have  been  far  in  excess  of 
the  cost  of  buildings  and  all  expenses  since  its  origin. 

Another  prominent  branch  of  the  Interior  Department  is  the  Pension  Bureau.  This 
occupies  an  immense  red-brick  building,  400  by  200  feet  in  dimensions  and  four  stories 

high,  standing  in  Judiciary  Square,  on  G  Street,  between  Fourth  and 
Pension  Fifth,  and  looking  like  a  cotton  factory  without  and  a  prison  within.  It 

Office.  has  two  gable  roofs  set  crosswise  and  largely  composed  of  glass,  lighting 

the  vast  interior  court.  The  structure  is  said  to  be  fireproof  —  a  state- 
ment which  caused  General  Sheridan  to  exclaim,  "What  a  pity  !"  A  band  of  terra 
cotta,  forming  an  ornamental  frieze  around  the  exterior  of  the  building,  just  above  the 
first  story  windows,  portrays  a  procession  of  spirited  marching  figures  of  soldiers  of 
the  late  war  —  horse,  foot,  and  dragoons.  This  is  the  only  artistic  thing  about  the 
building,  and  is  worthy  of  a  better  setting.  The  offices,  however,  are  more  commodi- 
ous and  comfortable  than  many  in  more  ornate  edifices,  and  open  upon  tiers  of  galleries 
that  surround  all  sides  of  a  great  tiled  court.  This  court  is  broken  by  two  cross-rows 
of  colossal  columns  and  lofty  arches  sustaining  the  central  part  of  the  roof  and  painted 
in  imitation  of  Siena  marble,  while  the  lower  gallery  rests  upon  a  colonnade  of  iron 
pillars,  speckled  counterfeits  of  Tennessee  marble.  The  floor  of  the  court  is  well  filled 
with  cases  of  drawers  containing  the  papers  of  applicants  for  pensions,  or  an  increase, 
so  tidily  arranged  that  the  file  of  each  man  can  be  referred  to  without  delay.  It  is  \ cry 
helpful,  however,  to  know  the  registry  number  of  the  case,  which  is  borne  by  every 
paper  pertaining  to  it.  The  cases  on  file  exceed  a  million  ;  about  1,000,000  beneficiaries 
are  carried  on  the  rolls,  and  the  outlay  of  the  bureau  is  now  about  $145,000,000  a  year. 
Over  1,800  persons,  one-sixth  of  whom  are  women,  are  employed  here,  but  room  is  left 
for  offices  for  the  Railroad  Commissioners  on  the  third  floor.  The  United  States  Pen- 
sion Agency,  where  local  pensioners  are  paid,  is  at  No.  308  F  Street. 

The  spacious  covered  court  of  this  building  has  been  used  on  the  last  three  occasions 
for  the  giving  of  the  inaugural  ball,  which  custom  decrees  shall  take  place  on  the  even- 
ing of  the  day  each  new  President  is  ushered  into  office.     In  the  early 
Inaugural         days,  when  the  minuet,  stiff  brocades,  and  powdered  hair  were  still  fash- 
Balls.  ionable,  these  were  affairs  as  elegant  and  enjoyable  as  they  were  select 

and  stately;  but  latterly  the  number  of  officials  and  their  families 
properly  entitled  to  attend  such  a  semi-official  function  has  become  so  great,  and  the 
crowd  who  are  able  to  buy  tickets  is  so  much  greater,  that  no  system  of  restriction  thus 
far  devised  has  been  successful  in  keeping  this  ball  down  to  a  manageable  size.  It  is 
said  that  17,000  persons  were  crushed  into  the  court  of  the  Pension  Office  Building  at 
the  inaugural  ball  of  March  4,  1885,  and  the  crowds  since  have  prevented  any  dancing 
or  other  real  enjoyment  of  the  festivities,  which  resulted  only  in  injury  to  health,  costly 

toilets,  and  the  building. 
Census  Office.  The  Census  Bureau,  charged   with  making  the  decennial  census,  was 

placed  in  1899  in  a  rented  building,  erected  for  its  purposes,  which 
occupies  half  a  square  on  B  Street,  between  First  and  Second.  It  is  a  low, 


THE   EXECUTIVE   DEPARTMENTS. 


Ill 


THE   PATENT   OFFICE.  —  F  Street,  N.  W     Seventh  to  Ninth  Streets. 


THE  PENSION  OFFICE.  — Judiciary  Square,  Fourth,  Fifth,  and  G  Streets,  N.  W. 


112 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 


brick  structure 
without  any  arch- 
itectural preten- 
sions, and  no  vis- 
itors are  admitted 
to  its  busy  offices. 
The  General 
Land  Office, 

Land  and 

Indian 

Offices. 

which  is  charged 

with  the  survey, 

management,  and  THE  CENSUS  BUREAU. 

sale  of  the  public  domain,  has  quarters  in  the  old  Post  Office  building  on  Seventh  Street, 

which  in  1899  became  an  annex  of  the  Interior  Department.     Here,  also,  are  the  offices 

of  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs.     The  office  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education 

is  near  by,  at  the  northeast  corner  of.  Eighth  and  G  streets,  where  an  extensive  library 

of  pedagogy  is  open  to  the  inspection  of  teachers.  The  Geological  Survey  has  fine  offices 

in  the  Hooe  Building,  1330  F  Street. 

Certain  other  branches  of  the  Government,  not  under  departmental  control  but 
responsible  directly  to  Congress,  may  be  briefly  spoken  of  here. 

The  Smithsonian  Institution  is  the  most  important  of  these,  and  is  elsewhere  described. 

The  Government  Printing  Office,  whose  chief  is  styled  "  the  Public  Printer,"  is  the 

place  where  the  Congressional  Record,  or  report  of  the  daily  proceedings  of  Congress,  is 

printed;  also  all  the  public  and  private  bills  and  documents  for  Congress, 

Government      the  yearly  -departmental  reports,  and  the  enormous  mass  of  miscellaneous 

Printing  publications  of  the  Government.     It  is  located  on  North  Capitol  and  H 

Office.  streets  ;  2,900  persons  are  employed  during  the  congressional  session  and 

about  2,700  at  other  periods,  and  it  is  said  to  be  the  largest  printing 

office  in  the  world.     Everything  connected  with  the  making  of  books  can  be  done  there, 

and  the  highest  degree  of  excellence  in  printing  and  binding  may  be  reached.     It  is  run 

under  very  systematic  methods. 

The  Department  of  Labor,  controlled  by  a  commissioner,  collects  and  publishes  use- 
ful information  on  subjects  connected  with  labor,  promoting  the  material,  social,  intel- 
lectual, and  moral  prosperity  of  men  and  women  who  live  by  their  daily  earnings.  It 
publishes  an  annual  report,  largely  statistical.  The  office  is  in  the  National  Safe  Deposit 
Building  at  New  York  Avenue  and  Fifteenth  Street. 

The  Civil  Service  Commission  makes  and  supervises  all  regulations  and 
Civil  Service,   examinations  respecting  applicants  for  employment  in  the  Government 
service  in  those  classes  under  the  civil  service  law.     It  has  offices  in  the 
Concordia  Building,  Eighth  and  E  streets. 

The  Bureau  of  American  Republics,  whose  purpose  it  is  to  promote  trade,  intelli- 
gence, and  comity  among  all  the  American  republics,  have  offices  at  No.  2  Jackson  Place, 
at  the  southwest  corner  of  Lafayette  Square. 

The  Free  Public  Library  has  made  a  beginning  at  No.  1326  New  York  Avenue, 
pending  the  erection  of  the  building  in  Mount  Vernon  Square,  to  be  given  to  the  city 
for  its  accommodation  by  Andrew  Carnegie. 


VIII. 
FROM   THE   MONUMENT   TO   THE   MUSEUMS. 

The  Washington   Monument. 

The  dignity,  symmetry,  and  towering  height  of  Washington's  character,  as  it  now 
pn-ents  itself  to  the  minds  of  his  countrymen,  are  well  exemplified  in  the  majestic 
simplicity  of  his  monument  in  Washington.  This  pure  and  glittering  shaft,  asking  no 
aid  from  inscription  or  ornament,  strikes  up  into  heaven  and  leads  the  thought  to  a 
patriotism  as  spotless  and  a  manhood  as  lofty  as  any  American  has  attained  to.  It  is  the 
glory  and  grandeur  of  this  superb  monument  that  it  typifies  and  recalls 
not  Washington  the  man.  but  Washington  the  character.  It  is  really  a  Grandeur. 
monument  to  the  American  people  in  the  name  of  their  foremost  repre- 
sentative. It  is  in  itself  a  conMantly  beautiful  object,  intensified,  unconsciously  to  the 
Ill-holder.  perlmp>.  by  the  symbolism  and  sentiment  it  involves.  With  every  varying 
nioo-1  of  the  changing  air  and  sky.  or  time  of  day,  it  assumes  some  new  phase  of 
interest  to  the  eye.  Now  it  is  clear  and  linn  against  the  blue  —  hard,  sharp-edged,  cold, 
near  at  hand  ;  anon  it  withdraws  and  softens  and  seems  to  tremble  in  a  lambent  envelope 
of  a/ure  ether,  or  to  swim  in  a  golden  mist  as  its  shadow,  like  that  of  a  mighty  dial, 
marks  the  approach  of  sunset  upon  the  greensward  that  rolls  eastward  from  its  base. 
The  most  picturesque  view  of  it,  doubtless,  is  that  from  the  east,  where  you  may 
•  coinpox-'  it  in  the  distance  of  a  picture,  for  which  the  trees  and  shrubbery,  winding 
roads  and  Norman  towers,  of  the  Smithsonian  park  form  the  most  artistic  of  foregrounds. 

This  monument  is  the  realixation  of  a  popular  movement  for  a  national  memorial  to 
Washington  which  began  before  his  death,  so  that  he  was  enabled  to  indicate  his  own 
preference  for  thi-  site,  and  wa^  expressed  in  a  congressional  resolution  in 
\">W.  which  contemplated  an  ei|ue-t  rian  statue.    The  death  of  Washington  History. 

revived  the  matter,  and  a  bill  appropriating  $150,000  for  a  mausoleum 
pa»ed  both  houses,  but  was  mislaid  and  not  signed  at  the  close  of  the  session.  The  next 
Congres.-s  was  made  up  of  Washington's  political  opponents,  and  his  monument  was  no 
more  heard  of  until  an  association  was  formed,  headed  by  the  President  of  the  United  States 
t.c  ••jfii'io,  which  undertook  to  retrieve  what  it  considered  a  national  disgrace,  and  raised 
a  large  sum  of  money  for  the  purpose.  This  site  was  obtained,  the  corner-stone  was  laid 
with  impressive  ceremonies  on  the  4th  of  July,  1848,  and  the  work  progressed  until  the 
>haft  had  reached  a  height  of  150  feet,  when  the  funds  gave  out.  The  coming  of  the 
Civil  War  turned  men's  attention  elsewhere,  but  interest  was  revived  by  the  wave  of 
patriotism  developed  by  the  Centennial  year,  under  the  influence  of  which  Congress 
agreed  to  finish  the  shaft.  To  Gen.  T.  L.  Casey,  Chief  of  Engineers,  U.  S.  A.,  was 
intrusted  the  task  of  enlarging  and  strengthening  the  foundations  —  a  most  difficult  piece 
of  engineering  which  he  accomplished  with  consummate  skill.  The  foundations  are 
described  as  constructed  of  a  mass  of  solid  blue  rock,  146  feet  square.  "  The  base  of 
shaft  is  55  feet  square,  and  the  lower  walls  are  15  feet  thick.  At  the  five-hundred-feet 
elevation,  where  the  pyramidal  top  begins,  the  walls  are  only  18  inches 
thick,  and  about  35  feet  square.  The  inside  of  the  walls,  as  far  as  they  Dimensions. 
were  constructed  before  the  work  was  undertaken  by  the  Government  in 
1878  — 150  feet  from  the  base  —  is  of  blue  granite,  not  laid  in  courses.  From  this  point 

115 


116  PICTORIAL  GtTIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 

to  within  a  short  distance  of  the  beginning  of  the  top  or  roof,  the  inside  of  the  walls  is 
of  regular  courses  of  granite,  corresponding  with  the  courses  of  marble  on  the  outside. 
For  the  top  marble  is  entirely  used.  The  marble  blocks  were  cut  or  'dressed'  in  tin- 
most  careful  manner,  and  laid  in  courses  of  two  feet  by  experienced  and  skillful  work- 
men. There  is  no  'filling'  or  'backing'  between  the  granite  and  marble  blocks,  but 
they  are  all  closely  joined,  the  work  being  declared  'the  best  piece  of  masonry  in  the 
world.'  By  a  plumb  line  suspended  from  the  top  of  the  monument  inside,  not  three- 
eighths  of  an  inch  deflection  has  been  noticed.  .  .  .  The  keystone  that  binds  the  interior 
ribs  of  stone  that  support  the  marble  facing  of  the  pyramidal  cap  of  the  monument, 
weighs  nearly  five  tons.  It  is  4  feet  6  inches  high,  and  3  feet  6  inches  square  at  the  top. 
.  .  .  On  the  6th  day  of  December,  1884,  the  capstone,  which  completed  the  shaft,  was 
set.  The  capstone  is  5  feet  2£  inches  in  height,  and  its  base  is  somewhat  more  than  three 
feet  square.  At  its  cap,  or  peak,  it  is  five  inches  in  diameter.  On  the  cap  was  placed  a 
tip  or  point  of  aluminum,  a  composition  metal  which  resembles  polished  silver,  and 
which  was  selected  because  of  its  lightness  and  freedom  from  oxidation,  and  because  it 
will  always  remain  bright." 

The  original  design,  prepared  by  Robert  Mills,  contemplated  a  shaft  600  feet  in 
height,  rising  from  a  colonnaded  circular  memorial  hall,  which  was  to  contain  statues  of 
the  nation's  worthies  and  paintings  of  great  scenes  in  its  history,  "while  the  crypt 
beneath  would  serve  as  a  burial  place  for  those  whom  the  people  should  especially 
honor."  This  plan  has  been  definitely  abandoned. 

A  staircase  of  900  steps  winds  its  way  to  the  top,  around  an  interior  shaft  of  iron 
pillars,  in  which  the  elevator  runs  ;  few  people  walk  up,  but  many  descend  that  way,  in 
order  to  examine  more  carefully  the  inscribed  memorial  blocks  which  are 
Interior*  set  into  the  interior  wall  at  various  places.  Within  the  shaft  formed  by 

the  interior  iron  framework  runs  an  elevator,  making  a  trip  every  half 
hour,  and  carrying,  if  need  be,  thirty  persons.  As  this  elevator  and  its  ropes  are  of 
unusual  strength,  and  were  severely  tested  by  use  in  elevating  the  stone  required  for 
the  upper  courses  as  the  structure  progressed,  its  safety  need  not  be  suspected.  The 
elevator  is  lighted  by  electricity  and  carries  a  telephone.  Seven  minutes  are  required 
for  the  ascent  of  500  feet ;  and  one  can  see,  as  it  passes,  ail  the  inscriptions  and  carvings 
sufficiently  well  to  satisfy  the  curiosity  of  most  persons,  as  none  of  those  memorials 
have  any  artistic  excellence.  Several  not  embedded  in  the  walls  are  shown  in  the 
National  Museum.  An  officer  in  charge  of  the  floor  marshals  visitors  into  the  elevator, 
and  another  cares  for  the  observatory  floor  at  the  top  ;  but  no  fees  are  expected.  The 
surrounding  grounds  form  Washington  Park. 

The  view  from  the  eight  small  windows,  which  open  through  the  pyramidon,  or 
sloping  summit  of  the  obelisk,  517  feet  above  the  ground,  includes  a  circle  of  level 
country  having  a  radius  of  from  fifteen  to  twenty  miles,  and  southwest 
View  from  extends  still  farther,  for  in  clear  weather  the  Blue  Ridge  is  well  defined 
the  Top.  in  that  direction.  The  Potomac  is  in  sight  from  up  near  Chain  Bridge 

down  to  far  below  Mount  Vernon  ;  and  the  whole  district  lies  unrolled 
beneath  you  like  a  map.  To  climb  the  Washington  Monument  is,  therefore,  an  excel- 
lent method  of  beginning  an  intelligent  survey  of  the  capital,  and  of  "getting  one's 
bearings." 

Looking  first  toward  the  north,  the  most  compact  part  of  the  city  is  surveyed. 
At  the  very  foot  of  the  monument  are  the  artificial  Carp  Ponds,  so  called  because, 
years  ago,  the  Fisheries  Commission  propagated  European  carp  for  distribution  there. 
Beyond,  in  the  center-foreground,  are  the  grounds  of  the  Executive  Mansion,  rising 
in  a  gentle  slope  to  the  White  House.  On  its  left  stands  the  State,  War,  and  Navy 
Building;  and  to  the  left  of  that  (and  nearer)  is  the  marble  front  of  the  Corcoran 


THE  WASHINGTON  MONUMENT.  —  Height,  555%  Feet. 


118  PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 

Art  Gallery,  on  Seventeenth  Street,  and  beyond  that  is  seen  the  old  Octagon  House, 
on  a  straight  line  with  the  Naval  Observatory,  conspicuous  in  white  paint  and  yellow 
domes,  three  miles  away  amid  the  green  hills  beyond  Georgetown.  Nearer  the  water 
than  any  of  these  is  a  large  yellow  house  among  the  trees  —  the  Van  Ness  mansion,  one 
of  the  first  costly  residences  built  in  Washington. 

Connecticut  Avenue  is  the  street  leading  from  the  White  House  straight  northwest 

to  the  boundary,  where  it  breaks  into  the  fashionable  suburban  parks  on  Meridian  Hill, 

at  the  left  of  which  are  the  wooded  vales  of  Rock  Creek,  near  which 

Northwestern   the  noble  Anglican  Cathedral  is  to  arise.     At  the  right  of  the  White 

Outlook.  House  is  the  Treasury,  here  seen  to  inclose  two  great  courts.     The 

lines   of   Seventeenth,    Sixteenth,   Fifteenth   streets,    and   of   Vermont 

Avenue,  lead  the  eye  across  the  most  solid  and  fashionable  northwest  quarter  of  the 

city  to  the  more  thinly  settled  hill-districts,  where  are  conspicuous  the  square  tower 

of  the  Soldiers'  Home  (4^  miles),  the  lofty  buildings  of  Howard  University,  and, 

farther  to  the  right  and  more  distant,  the  halls  of  the  Catholic  University. 

The  eastern  outlook  carries  the  picture  around  to  the  right,  and  embraces  the  valley 
of  the  Anacostia  River,  or  eastern  branch  of  the  Potomac.    Here  the  conspicuous  object 
is  the  Capitol  (1%  miles  distant),  whose  true  proportions  and  supreme 
Scene  size  can  now  be  well  understood.     Over  its  right  wing  appears  the 

Toward  the  Congressional  Library,  its  gilt  dome  flashing  back  the  rays  of  the 
Capitol.  sun,  and  setting  it  out  sharply  against  the  Maryland  hills.  Between 

the  Monument  and  the  Capitol  stretches  the  green  Mall,  with  the  grounds 
and  buildings  of  the  Agricultural  Department  nearest  the  observer ;  then  the  castellated 
towers  of  the  Smithsonian,  the  low  breadth  of  the  National  Museum,  the  red,  shape- 
less pile  of  the  Army  Medical  Museum,  and  the  small  Fisheries  Building,  leading  the 
eye  as  far  as  Sixth  Street,  beyond  which  are  open  parks.  Somewhat  to  the  right, 
the  course  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  out  Virginia  Avenue,  is  seen  as  far  as 
Garfield  Park,  where  it  disappears  within  a  tunnel.  This  leads  the  eye  to  the 
broad  current  of  the  Anacostia,  -which  can  be  overlooked  as  far  up  as  the  Navy 
Yard,  and  downward  past  the  bridge  to  Anacostia,  to  where  it  joins  the  Potomac 
at  Greenleaf's  Point.  The  military  barracks  there  can  be  seen ;  and  this  side  of  it, 
along  the  harbor  branch  of  the  Potomac,  are  the  steamboat  wharves. 

The  view  southward  is  straight  down  the  Potomac,  far  beyond  the  spires  of  Alex- 
andria, six  miles  in  an  air  line,  to  where  it  bends  out  of  view  around  Cedar  Point.    Long 
Bridge,  which  has  been  built  sixty  years  or  more,  is  in  the  immediate 
Down  the          foreground,  and  the  railways  leading  to  it  can  be  traced.     To  the  right, 
Potomac.          the  eye  sweeps  over  a  wide  area  of  the  red  Virginia  hills,  thickly  crowned 
during  the  Civil  War  with  fortifications,  the  sites  of  some  of  which  may 
be  discovered  by  the  knowing,  and  covers  the  disastrous  fields  of  Manassas  off  to  the 
right  on  the  level  blue  horizon. 

The  western  view  continues  this  landscape  of  Virginia,  and  includes  about  three 
miles  of  the  Potomac  above  Long  Bridge.     Close  beneath  the  eye  are  the  old  and  scat- 
tered houses  of  the  southwest  quarter,  with  the  Van  Ness  homestead. 
Up  the  and  the  hill  crowned  by  the  old  Naval  Observatory  on  ground  where 

Potomac.  Washington  meant  to  place  his  national  university.  Above  that  the  cur- 
rent of  the  river  is  broken  by  Analostan,  or  Mason's  Island,  opposite  the 
mouth  of  Rock  Creek,  beyond  which  are  the  crowded,  hilly  streets  of  Georgetown,  and 
the  Aqueduct  bridge,  leading  to  Roslyn,  on  the  southern  bank.  Then  come  the  high 
banks  which  confine  and  hide  the  river,  and  bear  upon  their  crest  the  flashing  basin  of 
the  distributing  reservoir.  Beyond  it,  over  the  city  of  Georgetown,  are  the  beautiful 
wooded  heights  about  Woodley,  wh^re  President  Cleveland  had  his  summer  home,  and 


FROM    THE   MONUMENT   TO   THE  MUSEUMS. 


119 


thousands  of  charming  suburban  houses  are  building.  On  the  Virginia  side  of  the  river, 
the  Arlington  mansion  appears,  somewhat  at  the  left,  and  three  miles  distant  ;  more  in 
front,  and  nearer,  the  National  Cemetery  embowered  in  trees;  and  behind  it,  the  clus- 
tered quarters  of  Fort  Meyer.  The  distance  is  a  rolling,  semi- wooded  country,  thickly 
sown  with  farms,  hamlets,  and  villages,  among  which  Fall's  Church  is  alone  conspicuous, 
and  fading  away  to  a  high  level  horizon;  but  when  the  air  is  clear,  the  eye  can  see  and 
rejoice  in  the  faint  but  distinct  outlines  of  the  turquoise-tinted  Blue  Ridge,  far  away  in 
the  southwest. 

Some  Scientific  Departments. 

The  public  institutions  along  the  south  side  of  The  Mall,  dealing  in  a  large  part  of 
tin  scientific  work  of  the  nation,  contain  more  to  interest  the  stranger  in  Washington 
than  any  other,  except  the  Capitol  itself.  They  include  the  Washington  Monument,  and 
there  are  good  reason-  for  advising  that  the  ascent  of  thi>  >hould  be  the  very  first  thing 
done  by  the  visitor  ;  the  Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Printing,  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture, the  National  and  Army  Medical  museums  in  the  Smithsonian  grounds,  and  the 
Fisheries  Commission.  It  is  a  long  day-  task  to  make  a  satisfactory  tour  of  these  build- 
ings; and  the  National  Museum  alone  has  material  for  almost  unlimited  study  in 
many  paths  of  knowledge.  Let  u>  begin  with  the  Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Printing, 
the  name  given  to  the  (iovernmeiit's  factory  for  designing,  engraving, 
and  printing  its  bonds,  certificates,  checks,  notes,  revenue  and  postage  Bureau  of 
stamps,  and  many  other  official  papers.  It  is  under  control  of  the  Treas-  Engraving 
u ry  Department,  and  occupies  a  handsome  brick  building  on  Fourteenth  and  Printing. 
Street.  S.  \V..  within  five  minute-'  walk  of  the  Washington  Monument. 
It  is  three  stories  high.  V3'-30  feet  long  by  i:.."i  feet  wide,  and  was  built  in  1878  at  a  cost 
of  $300.000.  Visitors  are  received  from  10  to  2  o'clock,  and  wait  in  the  reception- 
room  until  an  attendant  (several  women  are  assigned  to  this  duty)  is  ready  to  conduct  a 


r 


THE  BUREAU  OF  ENGRAVING  AND  PRINTING.  — Northeast  Corner  B  and  Fourteenth  Streets,  S.  W. 


120 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 


NUMBERING  CURRENCY  NOTES. 

party  over  the  building,  which  is  simply  a  crowded  factory  of  high-class  technical  work, 
the  products  of  which  have  received  the  highest  encomiums  at  several  world's  fairs  in 
Europe  as  well  as  in  America. 

Just  east  of  this  bureau,  occupying  large  grounds  between  Fourteenth  and  Twelfth 
streets,  S.  W. ,  and  reached  from  Pennsylvania  Avenue  by  street  cars  on  both  those 
streets,  and  from  the  Capitol  by  the  Belt  Line  along  Maryland  Avenue  and  B  Street, 
S.  W.,  is  the  headquarters  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture.  This  popular  Depart- 
ment grew  out  of  the  special  interest  which  early  patent  commissioners  took  in  agri- 
cultural machinery,  improvements,  and  the  collection  and  distribution  of  seeds  — a 
function  that  formed  a  large  part  of  its  work  until  1895.  It  was  gradually  separated 
from  the  Patent  Office  work,  erected  into  a  commissionership,  and  finally 
Department  (1889)  was  given  the  rank  of  an  executive  department,  the  Secretary  of 
Of  Agriculture  being  the  last-added  Cabinet  officer.  His  office  is  in  the  brick 

Agriculture*  building  west  of  the  Smithsonian  grounds,  and  he  has  the  help  of  an 
assistant  secretary,  to  whom  has  been  assigned  the  direction  of  the  great 
amount  of  scientific  work  done,  including  the  experiment  stations,  and  the  studies 
of  fibers,  irrigation,  and  the  department  museum. 

The  scope  of  the  work  is  now  very  extended,  including  the  study  of  diseases  of 
live  stock,  and  the  control  of  the  inspection  of  import  and  export  animals,  cattle  trans- 
portation, and  meat ;  a  bureau  of  statistics  of  crops,  live  stock,  etc.,  at  home  and  abroad  ; 
scientific  investigations  in  forestry,  botany,  fruit  culture,  cultivation  of  textile  plants, 
and  diseases  of  trees,  grains,  vegetables,  and  plants  ;  studies  of  the  injurious  or  beneficial 
relations  to  agriculture  of  insects,  birds,  and  wild  quadrupeds  ;  investigations  as  to  roads 
and  methods  of  irrigation  ;  chemical  and  microscopical  laboratories,  and  a  great  number 
of  experiment  stations,  correspondents,  and  observers  in  various  parts  of  this  and  other 


FROM  THE   MONUMENT  TO   THE  MUSEUMS.  121 

countries.  The  results  of  all  these  investigations  and  experiments  are  liberally  pub- 
lished, and  in  spite  of  a  sneer  now  and  then  the  people  are  satisfied  that  the  $3,300,000 
or  so  expended  annually  by  this  department  is  a  wise  and  profitable  outlay. 

There  is  a  museum  in  a  separate  building  in  the  rear  of  the  main  one,  exhibiting 
excellent  wax   models  of  fruits,    nuts,   and   natural  foods  of  various  kinds;    and  an 
especially  full  and  interesting  display  of  models  showing  the  damage 
wrought  by  many  kinds  of  insects  injurious  to  trees  and  plants,  also  an    Agricultural 
attractive   and  instructive  exhibit,   comprising  a  number  of  groups  of  Museum, 

mounted  birds,  ground-squirrels,  gophers,  and  other  mammals,  in  natural 
surroundings,  each  representing  a  chapter  in  the  life  history  of  the  animal  and  showing 
its  relation  to  agriculture.  These  \veiv  exhibited  at  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition, 
at  Chicago,  in  1893,  and  excited  admiration.  The  library  and  herbarium  will  interest 
botanists.  The  ordinary  visitor,  however,  will  prefer  to  remain  out  of  doors,  where 
years  ago  care  made  these  grounds  the  best  cultivated  part  of  The  Mall,  and  a  practical 
example  of  ornamental  gardening.  The  extensive  greenhouses  must  also  be  visited  ;  all 
are  open  at  all  reasonable  hours,  and  the  palmhouse  is  a  particularly  delightful  place  in 
a  stormy  winter's  day.  A  tower  in  the  garden,  composed  of  slabs  with  their  foot-thick 
bark  from  one  of  the  giant  trees  (sequoia)  of  California,  should  not  be  neglected,  for  it 
represents  the  exact  size  of  the  huge  tree,  "General  Noble,"  from  which  the  pieces 
were  cut. 

One  important  branch  of  the  department  —  namely,  the  Weather  Bureau  —  is  domi- 
ciled at   the  corner  of  M  and  Twenty-fourth  streets.     There  may  be  seen  the  delicate 
in-tniments   by  which    the  changes  of    meteorological   conditions  are 
recorded,  and   the  method  of  forecasting  the  weather  for  the  ensuing  Weather 

forty-eight  hours,  which  is  based  upon  reports  of  local  conditions  tele-  Service. 

uraphed  each  niuht  and  morning  from  the  observers  in  all  parts  of  North 
America,  whereupon  orders  to  display  appropriate  signals  are  telegraphed  to  each  office. 

The  system  grew  up  from  the  experiments  of  Gen.  A.  G.  Myer,  Chief  Signal 
Officer,  U.  S.  A.,  who  invented  the  present  system  and  conducted  it  under  the  authority 
of  Con.irre^  (1870)  a>  a  part  of  the  signal  service  of  the  army.  Generals 
Ha/en  and  A.  \V.  Greely,  of  Arctic  fame,  succeeded  him  and  perfected  Forecasting. 
the  service,  but  in  1891  it  was  transferred  to  the  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture and  placed  in  charge  of  a  civilian  "  chief  "  appointed  by  the  President.  In  addition 
to  the  forecasting  of  storms,  etc.,  the  bureau  has  in  hand  the  gauging  and  reporting  of 
rivers;  the  maintenance  and  operation  of  seacoast  telegraph  lines,  and  the  collection  and 
trail-mission  of  marine  intelligence  for  the  benefit  of  commerce  and  navigation;  the 
reporting  of  temperature  and  rainfall  conditions  for  the  cotton  interests,  and  a  large 
amount  of  scientific  study  in  respect  to  meteorology. 

The  Smithsonian  Institution  and  National  Museum  are  reached  by  crossing  Twelfth 
Street,  S.  W.,  and  entering  the  spacious  park.  Near  the  gate  stands  a  lifelike  statue  of 
Joseph  Henry,  the  first  secretary  of  the  Institution.  It  is  of  bronze,  after  a  model  by 
W.  W.  Story,  and  was  erected  by  the  regents  in  1884. 

The  Smithsonian  Institution  was  constituted  by  an  act  of  Congress  to  administer  the 
bequest  of  his  fortune  made  to  the  United  States  by  James  Smithson,  a  younger  son  of 
the  English  Duke  of  Northumberland,  and  a  man  of  science,  who  died 
in  1829.  In  1838  the  legacy  became  available  and  was  brought  over  in  Smithsonian 
gold  sovereigns,  which  were  recoined  into  American  money,  yielding  Institution. 
$508,318.46.  The  language  of  this  bequest  was  : 

I  bequeath  the  whole  of  my  property  to  the  United  States  of  America  to  found  at  Washington, 
iiiiiifr  the  name  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  an  establishment  for  the  increase  and  diffusion  of 
knowledge  among  men. 


122 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 


The  acceptance  of  this  trust  is  the  only  action  of  the  kind  ever  taken  by  the  nation, 
and  the  Institution  stands  in  a  peculiar  relation  to  the  Government.  It  is  composed  of 
the  President  of  the  United  States  and  the  members  of  his  Cabinet,  ex  officio,  a  chancellor, 
who  is  elected,  and  a  secretary,  who  is  the  active  administrator  of  its  affairs.  The  busi- 
ness of  the  institution  is  managed  by  a  board  of  regents,  composed  of  the  Vice-President 
and  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States,  three  Senators,  three  members  of  the  House 
of  Representatives,  and  six  other  eminent  persons  nominated  by  a  joint  resolution  of  the 
Senate  and  the  House  of  Representatives.  The  immediate  and  primary  object  of  the 
board,  as  above  constituted,  is  to  administer  the  fund,  which  has  now  increased  to  about 
$1,000,000,  and  in  doing  so  it  promotes  the  object  of  its  founder  thus  : 

(1)  In  the  increase  of  knowledge  by  original  investigation  and  study,  either  in  science 

or  literature.     (2)  In  the  diffusion  of  this  knowledge  by  publication  everywhere,  and 

especially  by  promoting  an  interchange  of  thought  among  those  promi- 

Plan  and  nent  in  learning  among  all  nations,  through  its  correspondents.     These 

Scope.  embrace  institutions  or  societies  conspicuous  in  art,  science,  or  literature 

throughout  the  world.     Its  publications  are  in  three  principal  issues, 

namely  :    The  "Contributions  to  Knowledge,"  the  "  Miscellaneous  Collections," and  the 

"Annual  Report."    Numerous  works  are  published  annually  by  it,  under  one  of  these 

forms,  and  distributed  to  its  principal  correspondents. 

There  was  early  begun  a  system  of  international  exchanges  of  correspondence  and 
publications,  which  forms  a  sort  of  clearing-house  for  the  scientific  world  in  its  dealings 
with  Americans;  and  there  is  no  civilized  country  or  people  on  the  globe  where  the 
Institution  is  not  represented  by  its  correspondents,  who  now  number  about  24,000. 
The  immediate  benefit  to  the  Institution  itself  has  been  in  enabling  it  to  build  up  a  great 
scientific  library  of  over  300,000  titles  and  mainly  deposited  in  the  Library  of  Congress. 

The  Smithsonian  Building,  of  Seneca  brownstone,  was  planned  by  James  Renwick, 
the  architect  whose  best  known  work,  perhaps,  is  St.  Patrick's  Cathedral  in  New  York. 


THE  SMITHSONIAN  INSTITUTION. —The  Mall,  near  B  and  Tenth  Streets,  S.  W. 


FROM    TUP]   MONUMENT  TO   THE  MUSEUMS. 


123 


It  was  completed  in  1855.  "Features  selected  from  the  Gothic  and  Romanesque  styles 
are  combined  in  its  architecture,  but  its  exterior,  owing  chiefly  to  the  irregular  sky  line, 
is  very  picturesque  and  pleasing."  For  the  purposes  of  exhibition  of  specimens  and 
laboratory  work,  however,  the  building  is  badly  lighted,  wasteful  of  space,  and  other- 
wise unsuitable.  The  eastern  wing  was  for  many  years  the  home  of  Prof.  Joseph  Henry, 
the  first  secretary,  but  is  now  devoted  to  the  offices  of  administration. 

The  Smithsonian  Institution  has  under  its  charge,  but  not  at  the  expense  of  its  own 
funds,  certain  bureaus  which  are  sustained  by  annual  appropriations.     These  are:  The 
United  States  National  Musi-urn,  the  Bureau  of  International  Exchanges, 
the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  the  National  Zoological  Park,  and  the  Astro-     Smithsonian 
physical  Observatory.     Of  the  National  Museum  and  the  Zoological  Park  Bureaus, 

more  extended  notice  will  be  found  elsewhere.  The  Bureau  of  Ethnology 
is  a  branch  of  the  work  which  studies  the  ethnology,  history,  languages,  and  customs  of 
the  American  Indians,  and  publishes  the  results  in  annual  reports  and  occasional  bulle- 
tins. It  has  been  the  means  of  collecting  a  vast  amount  of  important  and  interesting 
material  illustrative  of  the  primitive  natives  of  this  continent;  and  all  this  is  deposited  in 
the  National  Museum.  The  offices  of  this  bureau  are  at  1330  F  Street. 


NATIONAL  MUSEUM.— B  Street,  between  Ninth  and  Tenth  Streets. 

In  no  single  respect,  perhaps,  has  the  progress  of  the  American  capital  been  more 
striking  than  in  the  history  of  the  National  Museum.     Originating  in  a  quantity  of 
••curiosities"   which  had  been  given  to  the  United  States  by  foreign 
powers,  or  sent  home  by  consuls  and  naval  officers,  old  visitors  to  Wash-  National 

ington  remember  it  as  a  heterogeneous  cabinet  in  the  Patent  Office.     In  Museum. 

1816  a  step  was  taken  toward  something  coherent  and  creditable,  by  an 
act  of  Congress  establishing  a   National  Museum,  following  the  precedent  of  a  dozen  or 
more  other  nations  ;  but  this  intention  took  effect  very  slowly,  though  various  explor- 
ing i-xprditions  and  embassies  largely  incn-a-ed  the  bulk  of  the  collections,  which,  by 
and  by,  were  trundled  over  to  the  Smithsonian  building. 


124  PICTORIAL   GUIDE   TO    WASHINGTON. 

The  main  entrance  is  in  the  north  front,  and  is  surmounted  by  "an  allegorical 
group  of  statuary,  by  C.  Buberl  of  New  York,  representing  Columbia  as  the  Patron  of 
Science  and  Industry."  Entering,  you  find  yourself  at  once  in  the  North  Hall,  with 
the  statuary,  plants,  and  -fountain  of  the  rotunda  making  a  pleasing  picture  in  the  dis- 
tance. This  hall  is  crowded  with  cases  containing  personal  relics  of  great  men,  and 
other  historical  objects. 

The  "relics"  include  a  large  quantity  of  furniture,  apparel,  instruments,  table- 
ware, documents,  etc.,  which  belonged  to  Washington;  many  of  them  were  taken 

from  Arlington,  while  many  others  were  purchased,  in  1878,  from  the 
Personal  heirs  of  his  favorite  (adopted)  daughter,  Nellie  Custis,  who  became  Mrs. 

Relics.  Lewis  and  lived  until  1832.     Articles  that  once  belonged  to  Jefferson, 

Jackson,  Franklin  (especially  his  own  hand  printing  press),  and  several 
other  statesmen  or  commanders  of  note  ;  presents,  medals,  etc. ,  given  to  naval  officers, 
envoys,  and  other  representatives  of  the  Government,  by  foreign  rulers,  are  shown  in 
great  numbers ;  but  all  are  well  labeled  and  need  here  neither  cataloging  nor  descrip- 
tion. A  most  brilliant  and  valuable  cabinet  is  the  collection  of  swords,  presents,  and 
testimonials  of  various  kinds  given  to  General  Grant  during  the  war  and  in  the  course 
of  his  trip  around  the  world.  A  large  display  of  pottery  and  porcelain,  illustrating  its 
manufacture  and  characteristics,  in  China,  Japan,  France  (Sevres),  England,  North 
America,  and  elsewhere  occupies  many  cases  ;  also  a  valuable  series  of  lacquers. 

At  the  right  of  this  hall  is  the  Lecture-room,  beyond  which,  in  the  northwest 
corner  of  the  building,  are  the  offices  of  the  Director,  of  the  Museum,  and  the  Library. 

The  lecture-room  is  surrounded  by  models  representing  the  home  life  of 
Lectures.  the  American  Indians,  and  upon  its  walls  are  hung  the  Catlin  Gallery  of 

Indian  paintings,  made  by  George  Catlin  on  the  Upper  Missouri  plains 
between  1832  and  1840.  It  is  devoted  to  scientific  conferences. 

On  the  left  of  the  entrance  hall  is  a  room  devoted  to  the  various  implements  used  in 
the  fisheries,  and  beyond  that  an  apartment  where  a  great  number  and  variety  of 
models  of  boats  and  vessels,  especially  those  used  in  the  fisheries  of  all  parts  of  the 
world,  may  be  examined.  These  were  largely  collected  during  the  tenth  census. 

Passing  on  into  the  Rotunda,  the  plaster  model  of  Crawford's  "  Liberty,"  surmount- 
ing the  dome  of  the  Capitol,  towers  above  the  fountain-basin,  and  is  surrounded  by 

several  other  models  of  statues,  the  bronze  or  marble  copies  of  which 
Rotunda.  ornament  the  parks  and  buildings  of  New  York,  Boston,  etc.  All  these 

are  fully  labeled.  The  two  great  Haviland  memorial  vases  here,  whose 
value  is  estimated  at  $16,000,  were  presented  by  the  great  pottery  firm  of  Haviland,  in 
Limoges,  France,  and  are  the  work  of  the  artists  Bracquemond  and  Delaplanche.  One 
is  entitled  "  1776,"  and  the  other  "  1876,"  and  they  are  designed  to  be  illustrative  of  the 
struggles  through  which  this  Republic  has  passed  into  prosperity. 

Beyond  the  rotunda  are  halls  devoted  to  mammals,  mounted  by  scientific  taxider- 
mists in  a  remarkably  lifelike  manner;  to  skeletons  of  existing  and  extinct  animals; 
and  to  geological  specimens,  minerals,  ores,  the  building  stones  of  the  Union,  and  repre- 
sentative fossils  —  a  department  in  which  the  museum  is  extremely  rich,  as  it  is  the 
depository  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey. 

In  the  middle  halls  of  the  building  are  an  extraordinary  number  of  articles  —  with 
thousands  more  hidden  away  in  storerooms  for  lack  of  space  to  exhibit  them  —  of  the 

industrial  arts  of  the  world,  and  the  life  of  its  inhabitants  in  every 
Costumes.  climate,  state  of  civilization,  and  condition  of  advancement.  One  hall  is 

devoted  wholly,  for  example,  to  costumes  and  textile  fabrics  of  every 
sort.  The  lay  figures  wearing  Hindoo,  Persian,  Japanese,  American  Indian,  and  other 
costumes,  were  largely  made  for  exhibition  at  the  Columbian  Exposition  in  Chicago. 


FROM  THE  MONUMENT  TO  THE  MUSEUMS.  125 

Where  actual  costumes  are  not  available,  figurines  wearing  a  miniature  of  the  native 
dress,  casts  of  statuettes,  and  pictures  are  used  to  increase  the  range  of  illustration.  The 
examples  of  the  home  life  and  arts  of  the  Eskimo,  among  American  savages,  and  of  the 
Japanese,  among  foreign  peoples,  are  particularly  numerous  and  complete.  Particular 
attention  is  called  here  to  the  series  of  fabrics,  especially  baskets,  made  from  rushes, 
grass,  split  roots,  and  the  like,  which  is  exceedingly  instructive  and  beautiful.  In 
another  hall  the  arts,  architecture,  machinery,  weapons,  navigation,  agricultural  imple- 
ments, tools,  musical  instruments,  etc. ,  of  the  world  are  illustrated.  Pottery  forms  a 
large  and  richly  furnished  department,  ranging  from  rude  wares  taken 
from  prehistoric  graves  to  the  finest  product  of  Japan,  China,  India,  Pottery. 

England,  and  France.  No  other  museum  in  the  world  has  so  large  and 
complete  a  series  illustrating  the  native  American  pottery,  and  those  interested  in  the 
ceramic  arts  will  pause  a  long  time  over  the  work  of  the  Pueblo  Indians  of  the  South- 
west. It  would  be  quite  impossible  to  mention  in  detail  one  in  a  hundred  of  the  objects 
of  artistic,  historic,  and  scientific  value  in  this  overflowing  museum  ;  and  equally  useless 
to  attempt  to  guide  the  visitor  to  their  place,  since  the  cases  are  continually  being 
moved  about  to  make  room  for  important  accessions. 

A  considerable  portion  of  the  collections,  indeed,  remain  in  the  old  Smithsonian 
building,  and  should  not  be  neglected;  they  are  open   to   the  public  from  9  to  4.30 
o'clock.     The  halls  on  the  ground  floor  there  contain  a  splendid  series  of 
birds,  the  ornithological  collections  here  being  among  the  most  extended  Old 

and  useful  in  the  world.  At  the  west  end  is  an  extensive  and  attractive  Building. 
display  (highly  instructive  to  artists  as  well  as  naturalists)  of  the  inverte- 
brate marine  life  of  both  the  fresh  waters  and  of  the  seas  adjacent  to  the  United  States  — 
sponges,  corals,  starfishes,  and  other  echinoderms,  mollusks  in  wide  and  beautiful 
variety,  crabs  and  their  kin,  and  many  other  preservable  representatives  of  the  humbler 
inhabitants  of  the  rivers  and  ocean. 

The  upper  floor  is  a  single  lofty  hall  filled  to  overflowing  with  collections  in  anthro- 
pology, the  handiwork  of  primitive  and  savage  races  of  mankind,  illustrating  the  develop- 
ment, art,  and  social  economy  of  uncivilixed  mankind,  especially  during  the  prehistoric 
stone  age.  The  models  and  paintings  of  Arizona  cliff-dwellings  ought  especially  to  be 
noticed.  In  the  vestibule  below  are  full-sized  plaster  models  of  the  great  circular  calen- 
dar stone  of  the  Mexicans,  etc. 

The  Army  Medical  Museum  occupies  the  handsome  brick  building  in  the  southeast 
corner  of  the  Smithsonian  grounds,  next  to  Seventh  Street.  This  institution  grew  up 
after  the  war.  out  of  the  work  of  the  Surgeon-General's  office,  and  con- 
tains a  great  museum  illustrating  not  only  all  the  means  and  methods  of  Army 
military  surgery,  but  all  the  diseases  and  casualties  of  war,  making  a  Medical 
grewsome  array  of  preserved  flesh  and  bones,  affected  by  wounds  or  Museum. 
disease;  or  wax  or  plaster  models  of  the  effects  of  wounds  or  disease, 
which  the  average  visitor  could  contemplate  only  with  horror  and  dismay. 
This  museum,  nevertheless,  is  of  the  greatest  interest  and  value  to  the  medical 
and  surgical  profession,  and  comprises  some  25,000  specimens.  In  the  anatomical 
section  there  is  a  very  large  collection  of  human  crania,  and  about  1,500  skeletons 
of  American  mammals.  In  the  miscellaneous  sections  are  the  latest  appliances 
for  the  treatment  of  diseases,  all  sorts  of  surgical  instruments,  and  models  of  ambu- 
lances, hospitals,  etc.  The  library  is  the  most  complete  collection  of  medical  and 
surgical  literature  in  the  world,  surpassing  that  of  the  British  Museum. 

The  statue  of  Dr.  Samuel  D.  Gross,  in  front  of  this  museum,  appro-  Statues. 

priately  commemorates  one  of  the  greatest  of  American  surgeons  (born 
1805,  died  1884),  and  an  author  and  teacher  of  renown.    It  was  erected  from  professional 


126  PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 

subscriptions,  and  presented  to  the  Government  in  1897.  It  is  of  bronze,  modeled 
by  Calder. 

A  beautiful  monument  to  Daguerre,  the  originator  of  photography,  stands  near  by 
this.  It  was  designed  by  Hartley  of  New  York. 

The  United  States  Fish  Commission  is  the  last  place  to  be  visited  on  this  side  of  The 
Mall.  It  occupies  the  old  ante-bellum  arsenal  on  Sixth  Street,  from  which  that  part  of 
the  park  between  Sixth  and  Seventh  streets  derives  its  name,  Armory 
Fish  Square.  Here,  on  the  basement  floor,  can  be  seen  various  aquaria 

Commission,  filled  with  growing  plants  and  inhabited  by  fishes,  rare  and  common,  and 
by  quaint  and  pretty  swimming  and  creeping  things  that  dwell  in  the 
rivers  and  sea.  The  apparatus  involved  in  various  forms  of  fish-hatching  can  be  exam- 
ined, and  perhaps  the  process  may  be  watched  in  a  series  of  tanks  which  is  often  so  em- 
ployed. If  it  should  happen  that  one  of  the  railway  cars,  in  which  young  fish  are  carried 
about  the  country  for  planting  in  inland  waters,  is  standing  in  the  yard,  it  would  be 
worth  the  trouble  to  look  at  its  arrangements.  The  upper  floor  of  this  building  is  de- 
voted to  the  offices  of  the  Fish  Commissioner  and  his  assistants. 


IX. 
THE  CORCORAN  AND  OTHER  ART  GALLERIES. 


Tin-  Art  Galleries  of  the  city,  properly  speaking,  are  two  in  number;  but  those 
interested  in  statuary,  pictures,  and  ceramic^  will  find  a  great  quantity  of  all  these  dis- 
played at  the  Capitol,  in  various  department  buildings,  on  the  walls  of  the  new  Library 
of  Congros.  and  at  the  National  Museum.  Of  first  importance  is  the  Corcoran  col- 
lection: 

The  Corcoran  Art  Gallery  has  no  connection  with  the  Government,  although  its 
trustees  are  given  a  place  in  the  Congn->sional  Directory.     It  is  wholly  the  result  of  the 
philanthropy  of  a  wealthy  citi/en,  William   Wilson  Corcoran,  who  died 
in  ISIKJ.     "He  early  decided,"  11  has  been  well  said,  "  that  al  least  one-  YY.  W. 

half  of  his  money  accumulations  should  be  held  for  the  welfare  of  men.         Corcoran. 

and   he   kept    hU  »elf-iinpoM-d   obligation   >o   liberally  that   his  charities, 
private  and  public,  exceed  the  amount  of  S'I.OOM.DIH).  and  that  •  he  left  no  aspect  of  human 

life  untouched  by  his  ben- 
eficence.'" The  Corcoran 
Gallery  was  opened  in  1869, 
in  the  noble  building  oppo- 
site the  War  Department. 
This  has  now  been  super- 
seded by  the  splendid  gal- 
lery on  Seventeenth  Street, 
at  New  York  Avenue,  fac- 
ing the  Executive  grounds. 
The  Corcoran  donations, 
including  the  old  lot  and 
building,  have  been  $1,600.- 
000;  and  about  $:r>o.n<><» 
has  been  paid  by  the 
trustees  for  paintings,  be- 
sides what  has  been  given. 
A  large  number  of  casN  of 
classic  statues,  famous  bas- 
reliefs,  and  smaller  carvings 
in  this  gallery,  are  not  only  beautiful  in  themselves,  but  of  great  value  to  students. 

This  building  has  a  length  of  265  feet  in  Seventeenth  Street,  140  feet  in  New  York 
Avenue,  and  120  feet  in  E  Street.     In  architecture  it  is  Neo-Greek,  after  the  plans  of 
Ernest  Flagg  of  New  York,  and  the  external  walls,  above  the  granite 
basement,  are  of  Georgia  marble,  white,  pure,  and  brilliant.     There  are       Description 
no  windows  on  the  second   or  gallery  floor  of  the  facade,  all  the  light  for     of  Building. 
the  exhibition  of  the  pictures  coming  from  the  skylight  in  the  roof.    The 
only  ornaments  of  this  front  are  about  the  doorway,  which  is  elaborately  carved,  and 
under  the  eaves  of  the  roof,  where  the  names  of  the  world's  famous  artists  are  inscribed 
in  severely  simple  letters.     Entering  the  front  door,  the  visitor  is  confronted  by  a  grand 
staircase,  on  the  farther  side  of  the  great  Statuary  Hall,  170  feet  long,  which  occupies  the 

129 


THE   CORCORAN    GALLERY    OF   ARTS. 


130 


PICTORIAL   GFIDE  TO    WASHINGTON. 


CHARLOTTE   CORDAY  IN    PRISON. 

Painting  by  Charles  Louis  Muller. 


ground  floor.  This  is  so  lighted  by  open- 
ings through  the  gallery  floor  that,  for  the 
exhibition  of  casts  in  delicate  lights,  it  can 
not  be  surpassed  in  any  other  gallery  of  the 
world.  The  second  or  gallery  floor,  where 
the  principal  pictures  are  hung,  under  the 
great  glass  roof,  is  supported  by  Doric 
columns  of  Indiana  limestone,  above  which 
are  Ionic  columns  supporting  the  roof. 
On  this  floor  are  also  four  gallery  rooms, 
sixty-one  feet  by  twenty-eight,  and  numer- 
ous small  rooms  for  the  exhibition  of 
water-colors  and  objects  of  art.  On  the 
New  York  Avenue  side  is  a  semi-circu- 
lar lecture  hall,  with  a  platform  and  rising 
floor  to  the  side  walls,  which,  with  a  good 
skylight,  make  this  room  an  excellent  one 
for  private  exhibitions.  Attached  to  the 
gallery  is  an  art  school,  using  two  well- 
lighted  rooms  fronting  to  the  north, 
with  accommodations  for  a  large  number 
of  pupils.  It  is  the  intention  to  give 
here  annual  art  exhibitions  of  the  work 
of  local  and  other  American  artists  and  students. 

Among  the  older  and  more  prominent  paintings  in  the  Corcoran  collection  are 
the  following:  " The  Tornado "  by  Thomas  Cole,  "The  Watering-Place"  by  Adolphe 
Schreyer,  "  Nedjma-Odalisque  "  by  Gaston  Casimir  Saint  Pierre,  "Edge 
Paintings.  of  the  Forest"  by  Asher  Brown  Durand,  "The  Vestal  Tuccia "  by 
Hector  Le  Roux,  "Mercy's  Dream"  by  Daniel  Huntington,  "Niagara 
Falls"  by  Frederick  Edwin  Church,  "Caesar  Dead"  by  Jean  Leon  Gerome,  "On 
the  Coast  of  New  England"  by  William  T.  Richards,  "The  Helping  Hand"  by 
Emile  Renouf,  "The  Death  of  Moses"  by  Alexander  Cabanel,  "Charlotte  Corday 
in  Prison"  by  Charles  Louis  Muller,  "The  Passing  Regiment"  by  Edward  Detaille. 
"Wood  Gatherers"  by  Jean  Baptiste  Camille  Corot,  "The  Forester  at  Home"  by 
Ludwig  Knaus,  "Virgin  and  Child"  by  Murillo,  "Christ  Bound"  by  Van  Dyck, 
"Landscape"  by  George  Inness,  "The  Schism"  by  Jean  George  Vibert,  "The 
Pond  of  the  Great  Oak"  by  Jules  Dupre*,  "A  Hamlet  of  the  Seine  near  Vernon"  by 
Charles  Francois  Daubigny,  "Landscape,  with  Cattle,"  by  Emile  Van  Marcke, 
"Joan  of  Arc  in  Infancy"  by  Jean  Jacques  Henner,  "The  Banks  of  the  Adige" 
by  Martin  Rico,  "Twilight"  by  Thomas  Alexander  Harrison,  "The  Wedding 
Festival"  by  Eugene  Louis  Gabriel  Isabey,  "The  Approaching  Storm"  by  Narcisse 
Virgile  Diaz  de  la  Pena,  "Moonlight  in  Holland "  by  Jean  Charles  Cazin,  "Approach- 
ing Night"  by  Max  Wey,  "Sunset  in  the  Woods"  by  George  Inness,  "El  Bravo 
Toro"  by  Aime  Nicholas  Morot.  Some  noteworthy  late  additions  are:  "The  Land- 
scape of  Historical  Bladensburg"  (in  1887),  the  "First  Railway  in  New  York"  by 
E.  L.  Henry,  and  Charles  Gutherz'  (Paris,  1894)  great  canvas  of  the  "Bering  Sea 
Arbitration  Court,"  which  is  accompanied  by  an  explanation  and  key  to  the  portraits. 
Recently  added  are  :  J.  G.  Brown's  large  and  greatly  admired  canvas  "The  Longshore- 
man's Noon  Hour,"  which  has  the  "Honorable  Mention"  of  the  Paris  Salon;  "The 
Road  to  Concarneau"  by  W.  L.  Picknell,  "  Eventide  "  by  Robert  C.  Minor,  a  landscape 
by  H.  W.  Ranger,  and  "The  Adoration  of  the  Shepherds"  by  Mengo. 


THE   CORCORAN    AND   OTHER   ART  GALLERIES. 


131 


One  room  is  devoted  to 
portraits,  in  which  is  prom- 
inently hung  a  portrait  of 
Mr.  Corcoran,  by  Elliott. 
Around  him  are  grouped 
a  great  num- 
ber of  the  Portraits. 
Presidents 

of  the  United  States  and 
many  famous  Americans, 
making  the  collection  not 
only  interesting  histori- 
cally, but  particularly  val- 
uable as  illustrating  the 
styles  of  most  of  the 
earlier  American  portrait 
painters. 

Of  the  marbles,  Hiram 
Powers'  ' '  Greek  Slave  "  is 
perhaps  the 

most  cele-  Marbles. 
brated.  To 

Vincenzo  Velas'  seated  fig- 
ure of  the  "Last  Days  of 
Napoleon  "  is  given  special 
prominence  by  its  central 
position  in  the  upper  hall. 
The  exquisite  little  statue 

LAST  DAYS  OF  NAPOLEON  I.—  Marble  Figure   by  Vincenzo  Velos.  °  G   WeePm&   C    l      '    en' 

titled      "The     Forced 
Prayer,"   by    Guarnario.  always  brings  a  smile  to  the  face  of  visitors. 

The  Ham-  Hron/.cs  an-  especially  notable  as  the  largest  collection  extant  of  the  fine 
animal  figures  and  other  works  of  this  talented  French  modeler;    they 
number  about  100.      The  small  model  of  the  statue  to  Frederick  the     Bronzes  and 
(livut.  and  the  numerous  electrotypic  reproductions  of  unique  metallic          Replicas, 
objects  of  art  preserved  in    European  museums,  are  other  things  that 
the  intelligent  visitor  will  dwell  upon  among  the  wealth  of  beautiful  things  presented 
to  his  view  in  this  art  museum. 

The  Tayloe  Collection  is  a  bequest  from  the  family  of  Benjamin  Ogle  Tayloe,  whose 
richly  furnished  home  is  still  standing  on  Lafayette  Square.     It  consists  of  some  two 
hundred  or  more  objects  of  art,  ornament,  and  curious  interest,  includ- 
ing marbles  by  Powers,  Thorwaldsen,  Greenough,  and  Canova ;  portraits  Tayloe 
by  Gilbert  Stuart,  Huntington,  and  foreign  artists,  and  many  other  paint-        Collection. 
ings ;  a  large  number  of  bronze  objects  and  pieces  of  furniture,  including 
Washington's  card  table  and  other  pieces  that  belonged  to  eminent  men,  and  a  large 
series  of  porcelain,  glass,  ivory,  and  other  objects,  which  are  both  historically  and  artis- 
tically interesting.    A  special  catalogue  for  this  collection  is  sold  at  5  cents. 

The  Waggaman  Gallery  ought  surely  to  be  examined  by  all  culti-      Waggaman 
vated  travelers.     It  is  at  No.  3300  O  Street,  Georgetown,  and  is  easily  Gallery. 

reached  by  either  the   F  Street  or  Pennsylvania  Avenue  street  cars. 
This   gallery  is  the  private  acquisition  of  Mr.   E.   Waggaman,   and  contains  a  large 


132 


PICTOETAL   GUIDE   TO   WASHINGTON. 


number  of  fine  paintings,  the  specialty  being  Dutch  water-colors,  where  the  Holland- 
ish  style  and  choice  of  subjects  arc  well  exhibited.  The  most  striking  and  valu- 
able part  of  the  collection,  however,  is  undoubtedly  that  representing  Japanese  work 
in  pottery,  stone,  and  metal.  The  series  of  tea  jars,  antique  porcelains,  and  modern 
wares,  showing  rare  glazes  and  the  most  highly  prized  colors,  is  extensive  and  well 
chosen;  and  a  wonderful  array  of  bronzes  and  artistic  work  iu  other  metals  in  the 
form  of  swords,  sword-guards,  bells,  utensils  of  various  forms  and  capacities,  and 
decorative  compositions,  excites  the  enthusiasm  of  connoisseurs  in  this  department. 
The  gems  of  this  su-  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  perb  cabinet,  how- 

of  jade,  in  which  this 
superiors ;  among 
cent  plaques  of 
unique  in  the  United 
unsurpassed.  A 
ivory  carvings,  teak- 
quisite  design,  and 
oriental  art  and 
this  gallery  notable, 
mitted  on  Thursdays 
January,  February, 
between  11  and  4 
50  cents  for  each 
charitable  fund. 
Ancients  is  the  title 
nent  exhibition  of 
and  art  at  Nos.  1312 
Avenue.  Open  9 
to  10  P.  M.;  admis- 
50  cents.  The  pro- 
is  Mr.  F.  W.  Smith  of 
ton,  who  has  in  view 

VENUS  OF  MELOS.  — Cast.  National      Galleries 

Leasing,  by  the  financial  cooperation  of  Mr.  S.  Walker  Woodward 
of  Washington,  a  large  plot  of  ground,  he  has  reared  upon  it  a  building  for  the  con- 
crete exhibition  of  the  life  and  art  of  ancient  peoples. 

"The  trouble  with  most  museums,"  Mr.  Smith  asserts,  "is  that  they  deal  with  dead 
things  exclusively  when  they  deal  with  antiquities  at  all.  A  room  full  of  mummies  is, 
doubtless,  interesting  in  its  way,  but  I  do  not  believe  the  student  of  ancient  history  gets 
so  good  a  background  for  his  studies  from  such  an  exhibition  as  from  one  in  which  he 
is  actually  introduced  into  the  midst  of  the  domestic,  social,  and  religious  life  of  the 
people  of  whom  he  has  read  —  their  surroundings,  in  other  words,  before  they  became 
mummies.  We  gather  in  museums  an  endless  variety  of  fragmentary  relics,  and  we  call 
that  a  contribution  to  popular  education.  But  how  much  more  can  we  do  toward  edu- 
cating the  people  if  we  can  show  them,  through  their  eyes,  just  what  use  was  made  of 
each  of  these  relics  while  it  was  still  in  touch  with  the  life  of  its  period,  the  part  it 
played  in  the  daily  activities  of  its  owner,  and  the  influence  it  presumptively  had  on 
his  career." 

The  ancient  nationalities  illustrated  are  Egyptian,  Assyrian,  Graeco-Roman,  and 
Saracenic  peoples. 

The  Egyptian  Portal  is  a  reproduction  of  the  section  of  the  Hypostyle  Hall  of 
Karnak  in  exact  size  of  the  original ;  columns  70  feet  high  and  12  feet  in  diameter.  It  is 


ever,  are  the  articles 
collection  has  few 
which  the  translu- 
carved  jade,  if  not 
States,  are  certainly 
large  number  of 
wood  stands  of  ex- 
other  curiosities  of 
workmanship,  make 

Visitors  are  ad- 
of  each  week  during 
March,  and  April, 
o'clock,  by  paying 
admission  toward  a 

The  Halls  of  the 
given  to  a  perma- 
ancient  architecture 
to  1318  New  York 

A.    M. 

sion, 
jector 
Bos- 

"the  promotion  of 
of  History  and  Art." 


Halls  of  the 
Ancients. 


THE   CORCORAN  AND   OTHER  ART   GALLERIES.  133 

the  entrance  to  the  Hall  of  Gods  and  Kings,  more  grand  in  dimensions  and  beautiful 
in  color  than  that  (the  Saulenhof)  built  by  Lepsius  in  the  museum  at  Berlin,  and 
contains  twelve  decorated  columns  in  three  styles  —  the  Lotus  Bud,  the  Palm,  and 
Hathor  capitals  —  with  wall  decorations  and  the  throne  pavilion  reproduced  by  Lepsius. 

The  Upper  Egyptian  Hall  contains  the  beautiful  interior  of  an  Egyptian  house  and 
court  designed  by  Racinet.  The  larger  section,  83  feet  by  42  feet,  is  for  illustration  of  the 
arts  and  crafts  of  the  Egyptians.  A  dado  72  feet  in  length  displays  a  facsimile  in  color  of 
the  Papyrus  of  Aui,  or  Book  of  the  Dead,  from  the  British  Museum.  On  the  staircase 
wall  is  a  copy,  10  feet  by  7  feet,  of  Richtcr's  Handing  of  the  Pyramids,"  and  adjacent, 
one  of  like  size  of  Long's  "Egyptian  Feast";  also  a  cast  of  the  Rosetta  Stone. 

The  Assyrian  Throne  Room  is  gorgeous  in  blue  and  gold.  A  section  is  walled  with 
casts  from  the  Nineveh  and  Xiinroud  slabs  in  the  British  Museum,  and  paintings  of 
(»tliers.  The  portal  i>  between  the  four  colossal  human-headed  bulls  found  in  the  Palace 
of  Sennacherib.  The  Throne  of  Xerxes  from  Persepolis  is  set  up,  modeled  from  the 
original  in  the  Louvre. 

The  Roman  House  upon  the  ground  floor,  with  entrance  from  the  Hall  of  Columns, 
covers  10,000  square  feet.  It>  decorations,  which  cover  more  than  15,000  square  feet  of 
surface,  are  copied  in  part  from  the  beautiful  House  of  Vettius.  This  exceeds  in  size 
and  completeness  Mr.  Smith's  well-known  House  of  Panza  in  Saratoga. 

The  Taberna  (shop)  occupies  the  lower  floor  of  the  Roman  House,  and  contains 
superb  illuMrations  of  Greek  va^es,  full  si/.e.  Replica  copies  thereof  will  be  made  for 
supplying  >ch<«>ls  and  individuals  with  models  of  form  and  beauty  in  decoration, 

The  Lecture  Hall,  in  IVr>ian  style  of  ornamentation,  contains  the  painting  of  the 
Grandeur  of  Rome  in  the  time  of  ( 'onstantine,  covering  more  than  500  square  feet,  after 
the  original  by  Buhlmann  and  Wagner  of  Munich. 

The  Saracenic  HalN  are  a  precise  counterpart  of  the  beautiful  interior  of  the  House 
of  Ben/a<|uin  in  Tangiers.  and  a  hall  with  gallery  plated  with  casts  of  traceries  from  the 
Alhambra. 

The  Art  Gallery  is  devoted  to  illustrations  of  Roman  history.  The  walls  are  sur- 
rounded by  102  plates  from  Pinelli's  "  Istoria  Romana" — engravings  in  historical  order 
from  the  foundation  of  Home. 

Visitors  will  be  attended  in  the  hall*  by  expositors  upon  the  most  interesting  objects 
and  illustrations.  Mr.  Smith  will  speak  in  explanation,  at  intervals,  to  audiences  in 
the  different  halls.  A  descriptive  hand-book,  with  fifty  illustrations,  is  issued  for  loan 
to  vi-itors.  and  is  also  for  sale. 

The  ultimate  object  of  tin-  construction  of  the  Hall  is  to  illustrate  Mr.  Smith's  design 
for  National  Galleries  of  History  and  Art  according  to  view  annexed.  The  plan  is 
elaborately  set  forth  in  Senate  Document  No.  209;  over  300  pages,  octavo,  with  more 
than  200  illustrations.  It  has  been  published  by  unanimous  consent  of  the  Senate,  and 
can  probably  be  obtained  upon  request  to  members  of  Congress. 


IN  THE  HALLS  OF  THE  ANCIENTS— The  Egyptian  Halls  of  Gods  and  Kings. 


X. 


CHURCHES,  CLUBS,  THEATERS,  ETC. 


Washington  has  a  great  number  of  churches  of  every  denomination  and  in  all 
parts  of  the  city.  Only  a  few  of  the  most  conspicuous  of  these  need  be  mentioned. 
The  oldest  are  Rock  Creek  Church,  near  the  Soldiers'  Home  ;  Christ 
Church,  near  the  Navy  Yard,  and  St.  John's,  on  Lafayette  Square.  All  Episcopal. 
these  are  Episcopal,  and  have  been  elsewhere  described.  Other  prom- 
inent Episcopal  churches  are  :  Epiphany  (G  Street,  near  Fourteenth),  which,  like 
several  other  church  societies  in  the  city,  has  a  suburban  chapel;  the  Church  of  the 
Ascension,  at  Massachusetts  Avenue  and  Twelfth  Street;  old  St.  John's,  prominent 
in  Georgetown;  and  St.  James',  at  Massachusetts  Avenue  and  Eighth  Street,  N.  E., 
on  Capitol  Hill,  very  highly  ritualistic.  The  Roman  Catholics  have  many  fine 
churches  and  a  large  influence  in  Washington,  fostered  by  their  universities.  Their 
oldest  church  is  St.  Aluysiu-s  at  North  Capitol  and  S  streets;  and  St.  Matthew's, 
Rhode  Island  Avenue  near  Connecticut  Avenue,  is  probably  the  most  fashionable. 
Congregationalism  is  represented  most  prominently  by  the  First  Church,  at  G  and 
Tenth  streets,  which  has  always  been  a  leader  in  religious  philanthropy,  especially 
toward  the  Freedmen.  The  Presbyterian  churches  are  among  the  oldest 
and  largest.  The  leading  one,  perhaps,  is  the  First,  which  remains  in  Presbyterian. 
Four-and-a  half  Street,  and  became  famous  under  the  care  of  Dr.  Byron 
Sunderland,  when  it  was  attended  by  President  Cleveland.  An  offshoot  from  it 
was  the  New  York  Avenue  Church,  whose  big  house  is  so  conspicuous  in  the  angle 
between  that  avenue  and  II  street  at  Twelfth.  Out  of  this,  has  sprung  the  Gurley 
Memorial,  near  Seventh  Street  ami  the  Boundary  ;  and  the  Church  of  the  Covenant, 
whose  great  square  tower  is  a  conspicuous  ornament  on  Connecticut  Avenue.  Well- 
known  Methodist  churches 
are  the  Metropolitan  Mem- 
orial, down  in  Four-and- 
a-half  Street  ;  the  Foundry 
Church,  at  G  and  Four- 
teenth streets,  which  Pres- 
ident Hayes  attended ;  and 
the  Hamline,  at  Ninth  and 
P  streets.  A  leading  Bap- 
tist church  is  Calvary,  at 
Eighth  and  H  streets. 

The  S  w  eden  borgians 
have  a  white  stone  build- 
ing at  Cor- 
coran and  Other  De- 
Sixteenth  nominations. 
streets ;  and 

the  Unitarians,   the  well- 

ST.  JOHN'S  CHURCH.  known  Church  of  All  Souls, 

135 


136 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO    WASHINGTON. 


at  Fourteenth  and  L  streets.  The  Universalist  meeting-house  is  at  L  and  Thir- 
teenth streets.  The  "Christian"  Society,  of  which  President  Garfield  was  a  mem- 
ber, worships  in  its  Memorial  Church  on  Vermont  Avenue,  between  N  and 
0  streets.  The  Lutheran  Memorial  Church,  on  Thomas  Circle,  is  foremost  in  that 
denomination,  and  the  service  is  in  English.  Colored  churches  are  numerous, 
chiefly  Methodist  and  Baptist ;  in  the  former  the  strongest  is  Asbury,  at  Eleventh 
and  K  streets,  and  in  the  latter  the  Abyssinian,  at  Vermont  Avenue  and  R  Street. 

The  theaters  in  Washington  attract  the  finest  traveling  companies,  including  occa- 
sional grand  opera.     The  newest  and  most  ornate  house  is  the  Lafayette  Square  Opera 
House,    occupying  a  historic  site  on  Madison  Place,  Lafayette  Square. 
Theaters          Another  large  theater  is  the  Grand  Opera  House,  on  Fifteenth  Street, 
and  the  at  the  corner  of  E  Street,  one  block  south  of  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  irow 

Opera.  devoted  to  vaudeville.    The  new  National  Theater,  on  Pennsylvania 

Avenue,  between  Thirteenth  and  Fourteenth  streets,  is  of  great  capacity 
and  comfort,  and  holds  the  popularity  it  gained  long  ago.  The  Academy  of  Music  is 
another  well-known 
house,  at  Ninth  and 
D  streets.  The  Col- 
umbia is  the  newest 
addition  to  the  com- 
mendable theaters. 
It  is  at  11 12  F  Street, 
occupying  what  for- 
merly was  Metzerott 
Hall.  Kernan's  Ly- 
ceum, at  1014  Penn- 
sylvania Avenue, 
and  Butler's  Bijou, 
give  variety  shows. 

Certain  churches 
are  the  principal 
places  for  lectures 
and  the  like,  but 
scientific  lectures  are 
usually  heard  in  the 
hall  at  the  National 
Museum,  or  in  the 
lecture-room  of  the 
Cosmos  Club. 

Convention  Hall 
is  an  immense  arched 
apartment  over  a 
market  where  New 
York  Avenue  crosses 
L  and  Fifth  streets, 
and  is  intended  for 
the  use  of  conven- 
tions. 

The  clubs  of  the 
capital  are  not  among 
its  "sights,"  but 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  COVENANT. 
Southeast  Corner  Eighteenth  and  N  Streets,   N.  W, 


CHURCHES,  CLUBS,  THEATERS,  ETC.  137 

should  receive  a  few  words.  Most  prominent  among  them  is  the  Metropolitan, 
characterized  elsewhere.  Next  in  social  importance,  probably,  is  the  Army  and 
Navy,  which  has  a  handsome  six-story  building  opposite  the  south- 
eastern corner  of  Farragut  Square.  Its  triangular  lot  has  enabled  Army  and 
the  architect  to  make  a  series  of  very  charming  principal  rooms,  in  Navy  Club. 
the  northwestern  front,  where  the  sunshine  streams  in  nearly  all 
day.  These  and  the  many  connecting  apartments  are  luxuriously  furnished  and 
adorned  with  pictures,  including  original  portraits  of  a  dozen  or  more  of  the 
principal  commanders  of  the  army  and  navy,  from  Paul  Jones  to  W.  T.  Sherman. 
Only  those  identified  with  some  military  organization  are  eligible  to  membership. 
hut  the  club  is  very  liberal  in  extending  a  welcome  to  visiting  militiamen,  foreign 
military  men,  and  others  suitably  introduced.  One  feature  of  this  club  is  the 
informal  professional  lecture  given  to  the  members  once  a  month  by  some  expert. 

The  Cosmos  Club  has  been  referred  to  elsewhere  ;  the  Columbia  Athletic  Club  is  a 
large  association  of  young  men,  partly  social  and  partly  athletic,  which  has  a  field  in 
the  gardens  of  the  old  Van  Ness  mansion.  The  Country  Club,  near 
Tenallytown,  and  the  Chevy  Chase  Club,  have  already  been  mentioned.  Minor  Clubs. 
Allied  to  them,  within  the  city,  are  several  clubs  of  amateur  photog- 
raphers, golf  players,  bicycle  riders,  tennis  and  ball  players,  and  boatmen,  Washing- 
ton bring  a  place  famous  for  oarsmen.  The  two  women's  clubs  must  not  be  for- 
gotten: One  is  the  fashionable  Washington  Club;  on  H  Street,  opposite  the  French 
Kmbassy,  and  the  other  the  Working  Women's  Club,  a  purely  social  organization, 
at  dni;  Kleventli  Street.  .-.imposed  of  women  who  earn  their  living — physicians, 
journalists,  stenographers,  etc.  I  loth  these  clubs  give  teas,  musicales,  and  other 
feminine  entertainments.  The  Alibi  is  a  coterie  of  well-fed  gentlemen  who  give 
charming  feasts,  largely  of  their  <.\\  11  cooking,  and  cultivate  a  refined  Bohemianism  ; 
while  the  (Jridiron  is  a  dining-club  of  newspaper  men,  who  have  a  jolly  dinner 
among  themselves  once  a  month,  and  an  annual  spread  to  which  all  the  great  men 
available  are  invited,  and  where  mo.-t  of  them  are  good-naturedly  guyed. 

The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  flourishes  here  — and  in  1898  took  posses- 
sion of  the  line  In, use  and  gymnasium  built  by  the  Columbia  Athletic  Club  on  G 
Street  near  Nineteenth. 


XL 
OFFICIAL  ETIQUETTE  AT  THE  CAPITAL. 

Washington  society  is  distinguished  from  that  of  other  cities  mainly  by  its  semi- 
official character,  and  in  a  manner  that  is  not  reproduced  in  any  other  capital  the  world 
over.     The  official  etiquette  which  surrounds  its  social  observances  is 
simple,  and,  although  new  conditions  have  tended  to  make  some  part  .  Local 

of  the  code  complex  to  those  who  would  wish  to  see  its  rules  as  clearly  Society 

defined  as  constitutional  amendments,  the  most  important  of  its  cus-  Features. 
toms  have  become  laws  which  are  generally  accepted.  The  ever- 
changing  personality  of  the  heads  of  the  executive  branches  of  the  Government,  and 
of  the  law-makers  themselves,  together  with  that  innate  hatred  for  anything  partak- 
ing too  much  of  court  ceremonial, precedence,  etc.,  which  is  strong  in  the  average 
American,  were  good  enough  reasons  for  the  last  generation  in  leaving  these  questions 
unsettled,  and  will  in  all  probability  even  better  answer  the  bustling  spirit  of  the 
present  actors  upon  the  social  stage.  To  the  stranger  who  wishes  to  meet  persons  of 
national  prominence  at  official  gatherings,  and  to  catch,  besides,  a  glimpse  of  that 
plant  of  slower  and  more  substantial  growth  —  residential  society— the  path  can  be 
made  very  easy  and  the  way  clear. 

The  President,  as  the  bead  of  tbe  nation,  is  entitled  to  first  place  whenever  he 
mingles  in  social  life.  Whether  the  second  place  belongs  to  the  Yice-President  or  to 
the  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  has  not  been  defined  any 
clearer  than  whether  the  Speaker  of  the  House  is  entitled  to  precedence  Formalities 
over  members  of  the  Cabinet.  In  the  popular  mind,  the  second  place  is  at  the  White 
accorded  the  Vice-President  by  virtue  of  his  right  of  succession  to  the  House. 

highest  office  in  the  gift  of  the  people,  by  the  death,  resignation,  or  (li- 
ability of  the  President.     Since  the  passage  of  the  Presidential  Succession  bill  (Janu- 
ary l<),  1886),  the  Cabinet  is  given  precedence  over  the  Speaker  by  the  same  process 
of  reasoning. 

The  official  social  season  extends  from  New  Year  to  Ash  Wednesday,  the  first  day 
of  Lent.     All  the  formal   hospitalities  at  the  Executive  Mansion  occur 
within  this  period.      On  New  Year's  the  President  holds  a  reception,  Official 

which  begins  at  11  o'clock  and  closes  at  2  P.M.     The  Vice-President  and  Season. 

the  Cabinet  are  first  received  and  then  the  Diplomatic  Corps ;  after  that 
body,  the  Supreme  Court,  Senators  and  Members  of  Congress,  officers  of  the  army 
and    navy,    department    chiefs,    etc.       The    last    hour    is    given    to    the    public. 

During  the  season  three  or  more  card  receptions  (known  in  the  early  days  of 
White  House  entertaining  as  "levees")  are  held  evenings  —  9  to  11. 
The  first  is  in  honor  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps  and  the  (.thersfor  the  Card 

Judiciary,  the  Congress,  and  the  Army,  Navy  and  Marine  Corps.  Invi-  Reception. 
tations  are  sent  to  those  named,  to  other  officials  of  the  executive  and 
legislative  departments,  and  to  acquaintances  of  the  President  and  family  among 
residents  of  the  capital  and  other  cities.  Diplomats  wear  either  court  or  military 
uniforms  and  officers  of  the  three  branches  of  the  service  also  appear  in  uniforms. 
Guests  unknown  to  the  doorkeepers  should  be  prepared  to  show  invitations.  The 

139 


140  PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 

last  reception  of  the  series  is  for  the  public.  Advance  notice  is  given  in  the  daily 
papers  of  the  date. 

The  President  is  assisted  on  these  occasions  by  his  wife,  the  wife  of  the  Vice- 
President,  and  the  Cabinet  ladies.  The  state  dining-room,  at  the  west  end  of  the 
house,  is  used  as  a  cloakroom.  Having  laid  aside  their  wraps,  several 
Reception  hundred  persons  are  usually  assembled  in  the  main  corridor  when 
Ceremony.  the  President  and  wife  and  the  receiving  party  descend  to  the  Blue 
Room,  where  these  receptions  are  held.  Guests  approach  the  Blue 
Room  through  the  Red  Room.  Each  person  announces  his  or  her  name  to  the  usher, 
who  stands  at  the  threshold  of  the  Blue  Room.  He  repeats  it  to  the  army  officer 
who  stands  next  to  the  President  and  who  presents  each  person  to  him.  The 
President  always  shakes  hands.  Another  army  officer  standing  in  front  of  the  Presi- 
dent's wife  repeats  each  name  to  her.  The  ladies  assisting  shake  hands  with  each 
person  who  offers  a  hand  to  them.  A  knowledge  of  this  fact  on  the  part  of  stran- 
gers will  avoid  mutual  embarrassment.  Some  ladies  in  the  ultra-fashionable  set  make 
deep  courtesies  to  each  person  instead  of  shaking  hands,  when  going  down  the  line  at 
these  receptions,  but  the  custom  has  not  grown  in  favor.  If  not  invited  to  join  those 
back  of  the  line,  guests  pass  through  the  Green  to  the  East  Room.  In  this  stately 
apartment  the  gathering  assumes  its  most  brilliant  aspect. 

In  the  case  of  a  public  reception,  persons  approach  the  White  House  by  the 
west  gate  and  a  line  is  formed,  which  frequently  extends  as  far  west  as  Seventeenth 
Street,  those  coming  last  taking  their  places  at  the  end.  After  the 
Public  threshold  of  the  White  House  is  crossed,  the  line  is  a  single  file  through 

Receptions,  the  vestibule,  the  corridor,  and  the  Red  Room  to  the  Blue  Room.  As 
in  the  case  of  a  guest  at  a  card  reception,  each  person  announces  his  or 
her  name  to  the  usher,  by  whom  it  is  repeated  to  the  army  officer  who  makes  the  pre- 
sentations to  the  President.  These  rules  are  also  observed  when  the  wife  of  the 
President  holds  a  public  reception. 

The  state  dinners  alternate  with  the  levees.  The  first  dinner  is  given  in  honor  of 
the  Cabinet,  the  second  in  honor  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps,  and  the  third  in  honor  of  the 
Judiciary.  The  President  and  his  wife  receive  their  guests  in  the  Mast 
Dinner  Room,  an  army  officer  making  the  presentations.  When  the  butler 

Formalities,  announces  dinner,  the  President  gives  his  arm  to  the  lady  whose  hus- 
band's official  position  entitles  her  to  precedence  and  leads  the  way  to 
the  state  dining-room.  If  a  dinner  of  more  than  forty  covers  is  given,  the  table  is 
laid  in  the  corridor. 

An  invitation  to  dine  with  the  President  may  not  be  declined,  excepting  where 
serious  reasons  can  be  stated  in  the  note  of  regret.  A  prior  engagement  is  not  con- 
sidered a  sufficient  reason,  and,  in  fact,  nothing  less  than  personal  ill-health,  or  seri- 
ous illness,  or  a  death  in  one's  family  would  excuse  one  from  obedience  to  a  summons 
to  the  table  of  the  President. 

In  conversation,  the  Chief  Executive  is  addressed  as  "  Mr.  President."  In  writing 
as  "  The  President  of  the  United  States." 

The  wife  of  the  President  enjoys  the  same  privileges  as  her  husband.  She  receives 
first  cal's  from  all  and  returns  no  visits.  Persons  desiring  an  interview  with  her 
express  their  wish  by  letter. 

As  the  President  and  wife  may  or  may  not  make  calls,  so  it  is  entirely  at 
their  option  whether  or  not  they  accept  invitations.  For  the  last  ten  years  the 
Cabinet  circle  has  been  the  limit,  but  previous  to  that  the  Presidents  accepted 
hospitalities  generally.  Under  no  circumstances,  however,  will  either  the  President 


OFFICIAL   ETIQUETTE   AT   THE   CAPITAL.  141 

or  his  wife  cross  the  threshold  of  any  foreign  embassy  or  legation,  although  mem- 
bers of  their  family  may  do  so. 

The  hours  for  the  reception  of  visitors  at  the  Executive  Mansion      President's 
change  with  each  administration.    The  house  rules  are  always  posted  Hours. 

conspicuously  at  the  entrance.    Those  having  business  with  the  Presi- 
dent arrange  for  interviews  with  his  private  secretary,  whose  proper  title  is  Secretary 
to  the  President. 

The  Vice-President  and  wife  make  only  first  calls  on  the  President  and  wife. 
They  enjoy  the  same  immunity  from  returning  calls.     The  same  courtesy  which 
recognizes  the  members  of  the  Cabinet  as  in  the  official  family  of  the 
President,  includes  the  Senatorial  circle  in  the  official  family  of  the  Yice- 

Vice-President.    The  V ice-President  and  wife,  therefore,  return  Sena-        President, 
torial  calls.     They  receive  on  New  Year's  at  their  own  residence,  first 
oflicial  callers  and  then  the  public.     Throughout  the  season,  the  wife  of  the  Vice- 
President  receives  callers  on  Wednesday  afternoons  from  3  to  5.    In  conversation,  the 
Vice-President  is  addressed  as  "  Mr.  Vice-President." 

The  wife  of  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives  receives  on  Wednesday, 
at  the  same  hours  as  the  Cabinet  ladies.    The  Speaker  is  addressed  as  "  Mr.  Speaker." 

The  relative  precedence  of  Cabinet  officers  has  been  established  by  the  wording 
of  the  Presidential  Succession  bill.     It  is  as  follows :    The  Secretary  of  State,  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  the  Secretary  of  War,  the  Attorney-General, 
the  Postmaster-General,  the  Secretary  of  the  Nuvy,  the  Secretary  of  the  Cabinet 

Interior,  and  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture.     The  official  designation,      Precedence, 
preceded  by  the  phrase,  "The  Honorable—     "  is  the  correct  form  in 
writing  to  any  one  of  them.    In  conversation,  a  Cabinet  officer  is  addressed  as 
"  Mr.  Secretary." 

The  Cabinet  ladies  receive  the  public  on  stated  Wednesday  afternoons,  during  the 
si -use  ni,  from  3  to  5.  The  name  of  each  guest  is  announced  by  the  butler  as  the  hostess 
is  approached.  Each  ho>tc-s  is  usually  assisted,  in  these  formal  hospitalities,  by  a 
number  of  ladies —  young  girls  predominating.  They  are  expected  to  address  visitors 
and  to  make  their  stay  pleasant.  Callers,  except  under  exceptional  cir- 
cumstances, do  not  extend  their  stay  over  ten  or  fifteen  minutes,  and  it  Cabinet 
is  not  necessary  that  any  good-bys  should  be  exchanged  with  the  host-  Receptions. 
ess  when  leaving.  As  these  receptions  are  frequently  attended  by  from 
four  to  eight  hundred  people,  who  for  the  most  part  are  strangers,  the  reason  for  the 
slight  disregard  of  the  usual  polite  form  is  obvious.  No  refreshments  are  now  offered, 
which  is  also  a  change  from  the  custom  which  prevailed  several  years  ago.  Visitors 
leave  cards. 

Callers  wear  ordinary  visiting  dress.  The  hostess  and  assistants  wear  high-necked 
gowns,  however  elaborate  their  material  and  make.  This  fact  is  mentioned  because 
a  few  years  ago  the  reverse  was  the  case,  and  low-necked  evening  dresses  were  gen- 
erally worn  by  the  receiving  party  at  afternoon  receptions.  At  that  period  also,  men 
frequently  appeared  on  such  occasions  in  full-dress  evening  suits,  swallow-tail  coats, 
etc.  In  fact,  full-dress  on  both  men  and  women  was  not  unusual  at  the  President's 
New  Year  reception,  a  dozen  years  ago,  under  the  impression  then 
current  that  street  clothes  were  not  in  keeping  with  a  function  second  to  Rules  for 
none  in  point  of  ceremony  from  our  standpoint,  and  which  was  attended  Dress. 

by  the  Diplomatic  Corps  in  court  dress  or  in  dazzling  military  or  naval 
uniforms.     Customs  in  these  matters  have  changed  so  entirely  that  a  violation  of  the 
accepted  fa'snion  makes  of  the  offender  a  subject  for  ridicule.     The  proper  costume 
for  a  woman  to  wear  to  the  President's  New  Year  reception  is  her  best  visiting  dress 


142  PICTORIAL   GUIDE   TO   WASHINGTON. 

with  bonnet  or  hat,  the  same  that  she  would  wear  at  an  afternoon  reception.  A  man 
will  dress  for  the  President's  New  Year  reception  as  he  will  for  any  other  ceremoni- 
ous daylight  event.  Neither  low-necked  gowns  nor  dress  suits  are  permissible  until 
after  6  o'clock. 

The  same  proprieties  of  modern  custom  in  dress  should  be  observed  when  attend- 
ing evening  receptions  at  the  White  House  or  elsewhere.  Evening  dress  is  impera- 
tive, which,  in  the  case  of  women,  may  mean  as  elaborate  or  as  simple  a  toilet  as  the 
wearer  may  select,  but  it  implies  an  uncovered  head.  Bonnets  or  hats  must  not  be 
worn. 

By  a  rule  adopted  during  the  first  Cleveland  administration,  the  Cabinet  ladies  do 
not  return  calls  generally,  but  do  send  their  cards  once  or  twice  each  season  as  an 
acknowledgment.  The  Cabinet  ladies  make  the  first  call  upon  the  ladies  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  circle,  the  families  of  Senators,  and  the  families  of  foreign  ambassadors. 

Certain  days  of  the  week  are  set  apart  by  custom  for  making  calls  upon  particular 

groups,  and  no  mistake  should  be  made  in  this  respect.    The  ladies  of  the  Supreme 

Court  families  receive  callers  on  Monday  afternoons,  Congressional 

Calling:  families  on  Tuesdays,  the  Cabinet  families  on  Wednesdays,  and  the 

Days.  Senatorial  families  on  Thursdays,  with  the  exception  of  those  residing 

on  Capitol  Hill,  who  observe  the  day  of  that  section,  which  is  Monday. 

By  virtue  of  another  old  custom,  Tuesday  is  K  Street  day  ;  Thursday  calling  day  for 

upper  H  and  I  streets ;  Friday  for  residents  of  upper  F  and  G  streets,  and  Saturday  for 

Connecticut  Avenue  and  vicinity.    Calling  hours  are  from  3  to  6. 

The  discussion  which  has  been  going  on  for  years,  and  is  now  as  far  from  settle- 
ment as  ever,  as  to  whether  Supreme  Court  Justices  and  families  pay  the  first  call  to 
Senators  and  families,  or  vice  versa,  is  only  of  interest  to  the  stranger  as  a  phase  of 
Washington  life  showing  the  grave  importance  given  to  these  points  by  some  official 
households  and  of  the  absolute  indifference  with  which  they  are  viewed  by  others. 

The  Diplomatic  Corps  consists  of  six  ambassadors,  representing  Great  Britain, 
France,  Italy,  Germany,  Russia,  and  Mexico,  and  twenty -five  ministers  plenipotentiary, 
of  which  a  circumstantial  list  will  be  found  at  the  end  of  this  book.  They  are  ranked 
in  the  order  of  their  seniority.  Each  embassy  and  legation  has  a  corps 
Social  of  secretaries  and  attaches.  The  British  Ambassador,  Lord  Pauncefote, 

Rules  in  is  the  dean  of  the  corps,  having  been  the  first  ambassador  appointed. 
Diplomatic  Official  etiquette  as  regards  the  corps  has  changed  since  the  coming  of 
Corps.  ambassadors.  Ambassadors  are  given  precedence  by  ministers.  By 

virtue  of  long-established  custom,  to  quote  Thomas  Jefferson,  "foreign 
ministers,  from  the  necessity  of  making  themselves  known,  pay  the  first  visit  to  the 
ministers  of  the  nation,  which  is  returned."  Ambassadors  claim  that  they  only  call 
on  the  President  because  that  is  the  habit  of  European  countries.  It  is  generally 
understood  that  all  persons,  official  or  otherwise,  pay  the  first  call  to  the  embassies. 
The  ladies  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps  have  110  special  day  on  which  to  receive  callers, 
each  household  making  its  own  rules  in  this  respect. 


XII. 

STREETS,  SQUARES,  AND  RESIDENCES. 

The  only  residence  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  in  AVashington,  is  the 
Executive  Mansion  ;  but  that  is  rather  more  uncomfortable  than  the  average  Wash- 
ington house  in  midsummer,  and  all  the  later  Presidents  have  been 
accustomed  to  seek  a  country  home  during  hot  weather.     President       President. 
Lincoln  used  to  live  in  a  cottage  at  the  Soldiers'  Home ;  President 
Grant  spent  one  summer  in  the  same  house,  and  President  Hayes  occupied  it  every 
summer  during  his  term. 

The  Secretary  of  State  lives  in  his  own  house,  Sixteenth  and  II  streets  ;  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury  at  No.  1715  Massachusetts  Avenue;  and  the  Secretary  of  War  at 
No.  liii'i;  Rhode  Island  Avenue.    The  Attorney-General  and  the  Post- 
master-General are  on  the  same  block,  at  Nos.  1707  and  1774  respec-  Cabinet. 
tively  ;  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  lives  at  The  Portland  ;  the  Secretary 
of  the  Interior  at  The  Arlington  ;  and  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  at  1022  Vermont 
A  venue. 

Mr.  Chief  Justice  Fuller  resides  in  his  own  house,  No.  1801  F  Street;  Mr.  Justice 
Harlan  on  .Meridian  Hill;  Mr.  Justice  Gray  at  No.  1601  I  Street;  Mr. 
Justice  Brewer  at  No.  1412  Massachusetts  Avenue;  Mr.  Justice  Brown          Justices. 
at  No.  1720  Sixteen- h  Street ;  Mr.  Justice  Shiras  at  No.  1515  Massachu- 
setts Avenue;  Mr.  Justice  White  at  No.  1717  Rhode  Island  Avenue ;  and  Mr.  Justice 
Peckham  at  No.  1217  Connecticut  Avenue. 

Lafayette  Square  was  the  name  selected  by  Washington  himself  for  the  square  in 
front  of  the  Executive  Mansion,  for  which  he  foresaw  great  possibilities ;  but  it 
remained  a  bare  parade  ground,  with  an  oval  race  course  at  its  west 
end,  until  after  the  disastrous  days  of  1814.    Then,  when  the  White        Lafayette 
House  had   been  rehabilitated,  a  beginning  was  made  by  President  Square. 

Jefferson,  who  cut  off  the  ends  down  to  the  present  limits  (Madison 
Place  and  Jackson  Place),  and  caused  the  trees  to  be  planted.  No  doubt  he  had  a 
voice  in  placing  there,  in  1816,  St.  John's  —  the  quaint  Episcopal  church  on  the 
northern  side  —  the  first  building  on  the  square.  Madison,  certainly,  was  greatly 
interested  in  it,  and  it  became  a  sort  of  court  church,  for  all  the  Presidents  attended 
worship  there,  as  a  matter  of  course,  down  to  Lincoln's  time,  and  President  Arthur 
since.  Its  interior  is  very  interesting. 

Lafayette  Square  is  now,  perhaps,  the  pleasantest  place  to  sit  on  a  summer  morn- 
ing or  evening  among  all  the  outdoor  loitering  places  in  this  pleasant  city.  The 
trees  have  grown  large,  the  shrubbery  is  handsome  —  particularly  that  pyramid  ot 
evergreens  on  the  south  side  —  and  great  care  is  taken  with  the  flower  beds ;  and 
finally,  you  may  see  all  the  world  pass  by,  for  this  park  is  surrounded  more  or  less 
remotely  by  the  homes  of  the  most  distinguished  persons  in  Washington. 

Two  noteworthy  statues  belong  to  this  park.  One  is  the  familiar  equestrian  statue 
of  General  and  President  Andrew  Jackson,  which  is  the  work  of  Clark  Mills,  and  prob- 
ably pleases  the  populace  more  than  any  other  statue  in  Washington,  but  is  ridiculed 
by  the  critics,  who  liken  it  to  a  tin  soldier  balancing  himself  on  a  rocking-horse. 

143 


144 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO    WASHINGTON. 


Jackson 
Statue. 


It  was  cast  at   Bla- 

densburg    by     Mills 

himself 

who  was 

given 

cannon 

captured  in  Jackson's 
campaigns  for  mate- 
rial, set  up  a  furnace, 
and  made  the  fi  rst  suc- 
cessful large  bronze 
•xasting  in  America. 
Another  interesting 
fact  about  this  statue 
is  that  the  center  of 
gravity  is  so  disposed, 
by  throwing  the 
weight  into  the  hind 
quarters,  that  the 
horse  stands  poised 
upon  its  hind  legs 
without  any  support 
or  the  aid  of  any 
rivets  fastening  it  to 
the  pedestal.  This 
statue  was  erected  in 
1853,  and  unveiled  on 
the  thirty  -eighth  an- 
niversary of  the  bat- 
tle of  New  Orleans. 
Its  cost  was  $50,000, 
part  of  which  was 
paid  by  the  Jackson 
Monument  Associa- 

tion. THE  LAFAYETTE  MEMORIAL  IN  LAFAYETTE  SQUARE. 

The  Memorial  to  Lafayette,  in  the  southeast  corner  of  the  park,  is  a  very  different 
affair,  and  more  in  the  nature  of  a  monument  erected  by  Congress  to  the  services  of 

the  noble  Frenchmen  who  lent  us  their  assistance  in  the  Revolutionary 
Lafayette  War.  Upon  a  lofty  and  handsome  pedestal  stands  a  heroic  bronze 
Memorial.  figure  of  the  Marquis  de  Lafayette,  in  the  uniform  of  a  Continental 

general  ;  while  nearer  the  base,  at  the  sides,  are  statues  of  Rochambeau 
and  Duportail,  of  the  French  army,  and  D'Estaing  and  De  Grasse  of  the  navy.  In 
front  is  "America"  holding  up  a  sword  to  Lafayette.  This  work  is  exceedingly 
vigorous  and  is  after  models  by  two  eminent  French  sculptors,  Falguiere  and  Mercie. 

Total  cost,  $50,000. 

Site  Of  Starting  at  Pennsylvania  Avenue  and  walking  north  on  Madison  Place 

Lafayette         (Fifteen-and-one-half  Street),  the  new  Lafayette  Square  Opera  House 
Square  is  immediately  encountered,  standing  upon  a  famous  site.    The  tall, 

Opera  House*  brick  house  which  it  displaced  was  originally  built  by  Commodore 

Rogers,  but  soon  became  the  elite  boarding-house  of  Washington,  and 
numbered  among  its  guests  John  Adams  ;  John  C.  Calhoun,  the  fiery  South  Carolin- 


STREETS,  SQUARES,  AND   RESIDENCES. 


145 


ian,  while  Monroe's  Secretary  of  War  and  Jackson's  Vice-President;  and  Henry  Clay, 
when  he  was  Adams'  Secretary  of  Stale.  Then  it  became  the  property  of  the 
Washington  Club,  and  there  assembled  the  rich  and  influential  young  men  of  the 
capital  ;  Sickles  and  Key  were  both  members,  and  the  tragedy  which  associates  their 
names  took  place  in  front  of  its  door ;  later  it  became  the  residence  of  Secretary 
Seward,  and  there  the  deadly  assault  was  made  upon  him  by  the  assassin,  Payne, 
at  the  time  of  the  assassination  of  Lincoln  in  1865.  Its  next  distinguished  occu- 
pant was  James  G.  Elaine,  Secretary  of  State  in  the  Harrison  administration,  and 
there  he  died. 

The  fine  yellow  Colonial  house  next  beyond,  now  occupied  by  Senator  Hanna  of 
Ohio,  was  formerly  owned  and  occupied  by  Ogle  Tayloe,  son  of  John  Tayloe,  of  the 
<  Magon  House  and  Mount  Airy,  Virginia,  who  was  in  the  early  diplo- 
matic service,  and  one  of  the  most  accomplished  Americans  of  his  day.  Tayloe 
All  of  his  rare  and  costly  pictures,  ornaments,  and  curios,  including  House. 
much  that  had  belonged  to  Commodore  Decatur,  passed  into  possession 
of  the  Corcoran  Art  Gallery.  A  later  occupant  was  Admiral  Paulding,  a  son  of  John 
Puulding,  one  of  the  captors  of  Andre,  who  suppressed  Walker's  filibusters  in  Nica- 
ragua. Lily  Hammersley,  now  dowager  Duchess  of  Marl  borough,  was  born  there, 
and  some  of  the  most  brilliant  entertainments  ever  given  in  Washington  have  been 
under  its  roof.  One  of  its  latest  occupants  was  Vice-President  Hobart.  In  the  next 
two  houses  have  lived  Secretary  Windom,  Senator  Fenton,  and  Robert  G.  Ingersoll. 

The  gray,  mastic-stuccoed  house  on  the  corner  of  H  Street,  now  the 
(  <>s  11  ios  Clubhouse,  has  also   known  many  celebrated  characters.     It  Madison 

was  built  about  1825,  by   Richard  Cutts,   the  brother-in-law  of  the  House. 

brilliant  and  versatile  "Dolly  "  Madison,  the  wife  of  President  Madi- 
M  >n.  It  came  into  Mr.  Madison's  possession  just  before  his  death,  some  twenty  years 
later,  and  thither  his  wife,  no  longer 
young,  but  still  beautiful  and  witty,  held 
court  during  her  declining  years.  After 
Mrs.  Madison's  death  this  house  was 
occupied  by  such  tenants  as  Attorney- 
General  Crittenden ;  Senator  William 
C.  Preston,  afterward  a  Confederate 
Brigadier ;  and  Commodore  Wilkes, 
commander  of  the  celebrated  exploring 
expedition,  who,  in  1861,  was  required 
to  take  his  quondam  near  neighbor, 
Slidell,  from  the  British  steamer  Trent. 
He  gave  it  up  when  the  Civil  War  broke 
out,  and  was  followed  by  Gen.  George 
B.  McClellan,  who  established  here  the 
headquarters  of  the  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac. "  A  sight  of  frequent  occurrence 
in  those  days,  "remarks  Mrs.  Lock  wood, 
''was  the  General  with  his  chief  of  staff, 
General  Marcy,  his  aids,  Count  de  Char- 
tres  and  Comte  de  Paris,  with  Prince  de 
Joinville  at  their  side,  in  full  military 
costume,  mounted,  ready  to  gallop  off 
over  the  Potomac  hills."  Now  its  halls, 
remodeled  and  extended,  are  trodden  STATUE  OF  PRlfc^kTMTREW  JACKS°N 


146  PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 

by  the  feet  of  men  the  most  famous  in  the  country  as  the  investigators  and  devel- 
opers of  scientific  truth. 

Diagonally  opposite  the  Cosmos  Club,  on  H  Street,  is  the  square  brick  Sumner 
House,  now  a  part  of  the  Arlington.    Where  the  main  body  of  the  Arlington  Hotel 
now  stands,  there  were  three  stately  residences.     One  was  occupied 
Sumner  by  William  L.  Marcy,  Secretary  of  War  under  President  Polk,  and  Sec- 

HOUSC.  retary  of  State  under  President  Pierce ;  and  when  he  retired,  he  was 

succeeded  in  this  and  the  adjoining  house  by  the  Secretary  of  State, 
under  Buchanan,  Lewis  Cass,  who,  like  Marcy,  had  previously  held  the  war  portfolio. 
In  the  third  mansion  dwelt  Reverdy  Johnson,  minister  to  England  ;  and  there 
Presidents  Buchanan  and  Harrison  were  entertained  prior  to  their  inauguration  ; 
and  there  Patti,  Henry  Irving,  President  Diaz  of  Mexico,  King  Kalakaua,  Dom 
Pedro,  and  Boulanger  found  seclusion. 

The  great  double  mansion  adjoining  the  Sumner  and  Pomeroy  residence  (united  as 
the  H-street  front  of  the  hotel)  was  built  by  Matthew  St.  Clair  Clarke,  long  clerk  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  afterward  became  the  British  Legation.  Here  lived  Sir 
Bulwer  Lytton,  and  his  not  less  famous  son  and  secretary,  "Owen  Meredith,"  now  Lord 
Lytton,who  is  supposed  to  have  written  here  his  most  celebrated  poem,"Lucile."  In  later 
years  the  house  was  occupied  by  Lord  Ashburton,  who,  with  Daniel  Webster,  drafted 
the  "Ashburton  treaty,"  which  defined  our  Canadian  boundary.  A  still  later  occu- 
pant was  John  Nelson,  Attorney-General  in  Tyler's  Cabinet;  and  it  is  now  the  home 
of  Mrs.  Margaret  Freeman.  On  the  corner  of  Sixteenth  Street  is  St.  John's  Episcopal 
Church ;  and,  passing  for  the  present  other  newer  residences,  another  old  landmark 
calls  for  special  attention.  This  is  the  Decatur  House,  facing  the  square 
DecatUr  on  Seventeenth  Street,  at  the  corner  of  H,  and  easily  recognized  by  its 

House.  pyramidal  slate  roof.    This,  which  was  the  first  private  residence  on  the 

square,  was  constructed  at  the  close  of  the  War  of  1812,  by  Commander 
Stephen  Decatur,  the  hero  of  Tripoli,  and  one  of  the  most  popular  men  of  the  time. 
He  was  the  author  of  the  maxim  —  more  patriotic  than  righteous  —  uttered  as  a  toast: 
"My  country  —  may  she  always  be  right;  but  my  country,  right  or  wrong!"  His 
house  was  adorned  with  a  multitude  of  trophies,  gifts  from  foreign  rulers,  and  rare 
knickknacks  picked  up  in  all  parts  of  the  world  ;  and  here  he  was  brought  to  die  after 
his  duel  with  Commodore  Barron  in  Bladensburg,  in  1820.  Afterward  it  was  occupied 
by  the  Russian  minister,  and  then  by  Henry  Clay,  when  he  was  Secretary  of  State 
under  John  Quincy  Adams.  When  Martin  Van  Buren  succeeded  him,  he  took  this 
house  and  cut  the  window  in  the  south  wall,  in  order  that  he  might  see  the  signals 
displayed  from  the  White  House  by  "Old  Hickory,"  whom  he  worshiped.  He  in 
turn  gave  up  the  house  to  his  successor,  Edward  Livingston,  a  brother  of  Chancellor 
Robert  Livingston  of  New  York,  whose  wife  was  that  Madame  Moreau  whose  wed- 
ding in  New  Orleans  was  so  romantic,  and  whose  daughter  Cora  was  the  reigning  belle 
of  Jackson's  administration,  as  this  house  was  its  social  center.  Two  or  three  foreign 
ministers  and  several  eminent  citizens  filled  it  in  succession,  and  gave  brilliant  parties 
at  which  Presidents  were  guests,  the  most  recent  of  whom  was  Gen.  E.  F.  Beale, 
under  whose  grandfather  Decatur  had  served  as  midshipman.  General  Beale  died  in 
1894,  and  his  widow  now  dwells  in  this  storied  old  mansion. 

A  few  rods  south,  next  the  alley,  is  another  house  famous  in  the  past.    It  is  one  of 
the  navy  traditions  that  it  was  built  by  Doctor  Ewell  of  that  service, 
Ewell  and  occupied  by  three  Secretaries  of  the  Navy,  one  of  whom  was  the 

House.  talented  Levi  Woodbury;  then  it  was  the  home  of  Senator  Rives  of  Vir- 

ginia, grandfather  of  the  novelist,  Amelie  Rives  (Chandler),  and  after- 
ward of  Gen.  Daniel  Sickles,  whose  tragedy  is  indelibly  associated  with  this  beautiful 


STREETS,  SQUARES,  AND   RESIDENCES. 


147 


locality.  Vice-President  Colfax  was  a 
still  later  tenant,  and  then  the  house 
passed  into  possession  of  the  late  Wash- 
ington McLean,  editor  of  the  Cincinnati 
KiKjiiirer,  whose  daughter,  wife  of  Ad- 
miral Ludlow,  now  resides  there. 

In  this  same  row,  No.  22,  the  former 
residence  of  William  M.  Marcy,  Secre- 
tary of  War,  and  afterward  Secretary  of 
State  (1853-57),  is  now  the  home  of  Mrs. 
R.  H.  Townsend,  daughter  of  the  late 
William  L.  Scott  of  Erie,  Pa.  Gen.  J. 
G.  Parke,  who  commanded  the  Fifth 
Army  Corps,  and  was  Chief-of-staff  to 
Burnside,  resides  in  No.  16 ;  and  No.  6  is 
the  residence  of  Mrs.  Martha  Reed,  sister 
of  the  late  Admiral  Dahlgren.  Lovers 
of  trees  \vill  take  notice  of 
the  row  of  Chinese  gingko  GingkO 

trees,  which  shade   the  Trees. 

sidewalk    opposite    this 
row  of  houses,  on  the  western  margin 
of  the   square. 

Fourteenth  Street  will  make  a  good 
starting-point  for  a  ramble  in  search  of 
the  historic,  picturesque,  and  personal 
features  of  Washington's  streets  and  squares.  It  is  the  great  north-and-south  line  of 
travel,  extending  far  out  into  the  lii^h  northern  suburb  of  Mount 
Pleasant.  Franklin  Square,  between  Fourteenth  and  Thirteenth,  and  franklin 

1  ami  K  e-t  reets,  comprises  about  four  acres,  densely  shaded,  and  is  a  Square. 

favorite  place  of  re-sort  in  summer  evenings.     In  its  center  is  the  spring 
of  excellent  water   from  which  the  White  House  is  supplied,  and  where  there  is 
a  public  drinking  fountain.       The   Franklin  schoolhouse  overlooks  the  square  on 
the  east,  and  the  Hamilton  and   Cochran  hotels  are  just  above  it  on  Fourteenth 
Street.    The  church  on  the  next  corner  (L  Street)  is  All  Souls  (Unitarian),  diagonally 
opposite  which  is  the  Portland.    This  brings  you  to  Thomas  Circle,  in  the  center 
of  which  is  J.  (I  \.  Ward's  bronze  statue  of  Gen.  George  H.  Thomas,  the  "  Rock 
of  Chickamauga"  and  hero  of  Nashville,   which  was  erected,  with  great  ceremony, 
in  1879,  by  the  Society  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  which  paid  $40,000  for 
the  design  and  the  casting.     The  pedestal,  which  bears  the  bronze  in- 
signia of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  and  its  ornamental  lamps  were          Thomas, 
furnished  by  Congress,  at  an  expense  of  125,000.    The  statue  is  itself 
nineteen  feet  in  height,  and  is  finely  modeled;   but  many  admirers  of  this  sturdy, 
unassuming  commander  regret  that  in  his  representation  there  is  not  more  man  and 
less  horse. 

Northwest  of  Thomas  Circle,  in  front  of  Lutheran  Memorial  Church,  stands  one  of 
the  most  artistic  statues  in  the  city,  erected  by  the  Lutheran  Church 
of  America  to  Martin  Luther.      It  was  cast  in  Germany  from  the  same  Luther, 

molds  as  Rietschel's  centerpiece  of  the  celebrated  memorial  at  Wurms, 
and  expresses  the  indomitable  attitude  of  the  great  reformer  on  all  questions  of  con- 
science.    This  statue  is  eleven  feet  in  height  and  cost  $10,000. 


EQUESTRIAN  STATUE  OF 

MAJ.-GEN    GEORGE  H.  THOMAS. 

Thomas  Circle.     J.  Q.  A.  Ward. 


148  PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 

Fourteenth  Street  above  this  point  has  nothing  of  special  interest,  but  is  a  hand- 
some and  busy  highway;  and  its  extension  on  the  elevated  ground  of  Meridian  Hill, 
north  of  the  city  boundary,  is  rapidly  being  settled  upon  by  important  people.  The 
gray  stone  castle,  surrounded  by  large  grounds,  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  on  the  right,  is 
called  "  Belmont,"  and  belongs  to  A.  L.  Barber,  owner  of  the  Trinidad  asphalt  mines. 
Mrs.  General  Logan  lives  at  Calumet  Place,  two  blocks  east,  on  the  street  north  of 
"  Belmont,"  where  she  has  a  cabinet  of  relics  of  her  famous  husband  which  is  fre- 
quently visited  by  veterans  of  the  war.  Mr.  Justice  Harlan  of  the  Supreme  Court 
resides  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street,  two  blocks  north,  at  Euclid  Place. 

Following  H  Street  from  Fourteenth  westward,  No.  1404,  now  known  as  the  Els- 
mere  Hotel,  was  for  many  years  the  residence  of  the  late  Zachariah  Chandler.  The 
Shoreham  Hotel,  the  Colonial  Hotel,  and  the  Columbian  University  occupy  the  other 
corners,  the  new  Law  School  of  the  latter  conspicuous  on  H  Street. 

The  Columbian  University  is  one  of  the  oldest  and  best-equipped  schools  of  higher 
learning  e.t  the  capital.  It  has  a  preparatory  school  and  departments  of  undergrad- 
uate and  postgraduate  academic  studies;  special  courses  in  science 
Columbian  (Corcoran  Scientific  School),  of  medicine  and  dentistry,  and  of  law.  Its 
University.  endowments  now  amount  to  about  $1,000,000,  and  its  faculty  and  list  of 
lecturers  include  a  large  number  of  men  in  public  life,  from  certain 
justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  down.  This  is  particularly  true  of  the  Corcoran  Scien- 
tific School,  where  the  lecturers  are  all  men  identified  with  special  investigations  at 
the  Smithsonian,  Geological  Survey,  or  in  some  of  the  technical  branches  of  the  Army 
or  Navy.  This  university,  which  was  aided  at  the  beginning  by  the  Government, 
has  always  had  access  to  and  made  great  use  of  the  libraries  and  museums  which 
abound  here  and  are  of  so  great  educational  value. 

Continuing  our  notes  westward  along  H  Street :  Gen.  Chauncey  McKeever,  U.  S.  A., 
lives  at  No.  1508,  and  on  the  left-hand  corner,  at  Madison  Place,  is  the  Cosmos  Club. 

The  Cosmos  Club  is  a  social  club  of  men  interested  in  science,  of  whom  Washing- 
ton now  contains  a  greater  number,  and,  on  the  average,  a  higher  grade,  than  any 
other  city.  This  is  due  to  the  employment  and  encouragement  given 
Cosmos  Club,  by  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  Agricultural  Department,  Geological 
and  Coast  Surveys,  Fish  Commission,  Naval  Observatory,  technical 
departments  of  the  Treasury,  War,  and  Navy  Departments,  and  two  or  three  univer- 
sities. This  club  may  therefore  be  considered  the  intellectual  center  of  the  non- 
political  life  of  the  capital,  and  at  any  one  of  its  delightful  Monday  evenings,  half 
a  hundred  men  of  high  attainments  and  wide  reputation  may  be  seen,  and  the 
conversation  heard  is,  in  its  way,  as  interesting  and  inspiring  as  anything  to  be 
listened  to  in  the  land.  The  historic  old  house  has  been  somewhat  modified,  chiefly 
by  the  addition  of  a  large  hall,  which  may  be  shut  off  from  the  remaining  rooms 
and  used  as  a  meeting-room ;  and  there  the  Philosophical,  Biological,  Geographic,  and 
kindred  societies  hold  their  meetings  on  stated  evenings. 

The  Arlington  Hotel,  including  the  former  residences  of  Senators  Sumner  and 
Pomeroy,  is  diagonally  opposite  the  Cosmos;  and  next  beyond  is  the  "Bulwer 
House,"  and  then  St.  John's  Episcopal  Church.  All  these  face  Lafayette  Square  and 
have  been  elsewhere  described.  On  the  farther  corner  of  Sixteenth  Street,  opposite 
St.  John's,  is  the  beautiful  home  of  Col.  John  Hay,  President  McKinley's  Secretary 
of  State,  the  author  of  "  Little  Breeches,"  and,  with  Mr.  Nicolay,  of  the  principal 
biography  of  Lincoln.  The  yellow  house,  No.  1607,  next  beyond,  was  built  and  for 
many  years  occupied  by  Com.  Richard  Stockton,  who  added  to  a  glorious  naval  record 
in  the  Mediterranean  and  West  Indies  the  establishment  of  American  rule  in  Cali- 
fornia in  1845.  Later  it  was  tenanted  by  Slidell,  who,  with  Mason,  was  sent  by  the 


STREETS,  SQUARES,  AND   RESIDENCES. 


149 


Confederate  government  to  England  as  a  commissioner,  but  was  captured  on  the  Trent 

by  his  quondam  neighbor,  Commodore  Wilkes,  who  then  lived  in  the 

present  home  of  the  Cosmos  Club  ;  it  was  the  residence  of  Mr.  Lamont          Stockton 

when  Secretary  of  War.     The  adjoining  house  on  the  corner  of  Seven-  House. 

teenth  Street  —  which  was  for  many  years  the  residence  of  the  late 

W.  W.  Corcoran,  the  philanthropic  banker,  to  whom-  the  city  owes  the  Corcoran 

Gallery,  the  Louise  Home,  and  other  enterprises  and  benefactions  —  is  another  of 

the  famous  homes  of  old  Washington,  and  has  been  the  residence  of  several  men  of 

note,  including  Daniel  Webster.     It  was  occupied  by  Senator  Calvin  S.  Brice  during 

the  later  years  of  his  life,  and  is  now  the  home  of  Senator  Depew  of  New  York. 

Crossing  Connecticut  Avenue,  the  corner  house  is  that  of  the  late  Admiral  Shu- 
brick,  opposite  which  (on  Seventeenth),  facing  the  square,  is  the  ancient  Decatur 
House.  Next  beyond,  No.  1621  H  Street,  is  the  residence  of  Judge  ,T.  C.  Bancroft 
Davis,  the  diplomat,  now  reporter  of  the  Supreme  Court.  In  the  old-fashioned  square 
house  adjoining  it,  to  the  west,  George  Bancroft  spent  the  last  twenty 
years  of  his  life, and  completed  his  History  of  the  United  States.  Bancroft 

The   Rich-  House. 

m  o  n  d ,    on 

the  corner  of  Seventeenth 
Street,  is  a  popular  family 
hotel.  The  Albany,  on  the 
other  side,  is  an  apartment 
house  for  gentlemen ;  and 
on  the  southwest  corner  is 
the  Metropolitan  Club,  the 
largest,  wealthiest,  and 
most  fashionable  club  in 
Washington,  one  rule  of 
which  is  that  members  of 
the  foreign  diplomatic  ser- 
vice, resident  in  Washing- 
ton, are  ex  officio  members 
of  the  club,  and  need  only  pay  stipulated  dues  in  order  to  take  advantage  of  its  privi- 
leges. This  block  on  H  Street  between  Seventeenth  and  Eighteenth  streets  is  familiarly 
known  as  the  Midway  Plaisance.  Adjoining  the  Metropolitan  Club  are 
club  chambers  for  gentlemen,  and  the  large  yellow  house,  next  west-  Clubs, 

ward,  was  the  home  of  Admiral  Porter,  of  the  United  States  Navy.     It 
is  now  the  French  Embassy.     The  Milton  and  Everett  are  family  apartment  houses; 
and  No.  17l>9  was  the  residence  of  the  late  William  A.  Richardson,  formerly  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  and  afterward  Chief  Justice  of  the  Court  of  Claims. 

In  this  neighborhood  dwelt  many  old  Washington  families  and  some  modern 
notabilities.  The  Everett  House,  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Eighteenth  and  G,  is 
historic.  It  was  built  and  occupied  by  Pklward  Everett  of  Massachu- 
setts, when  Secretary  of  State  under  Fillmore.  Afterward  it  was  the  Everett 
home  of  Jefferson  Davis,  when  Secretary  of  War,  after  his  marriage  House, 
with  his  second  wife.  He  continued  there  during  his  term  as  Secretary 
of  State,  but  not  after  he  returned  to  the  Senate.  His  successor  in  the  house  was 
another  traitor  in  high  place,  Jacob  Thompson,  Buchanan's  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 
who  became  a  member  of  the  Confederate  Cabinet  in  1861.  Then  followed  Capt. 
Henry  A.  Wise,  a  well-known  officer  of  the  navy,  after  whom  the  medical  department 
of  the  navy  used  the  house  for  many  years. 


RESIDENCE  OF  SENATOR   CHAUNCEY  M.  DEPEW. 
Corner  Sixteenth  and  I  Streets,   N.  W. 


150 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO    WASHINGTON. 


The  Wirt  House  is  a  few  rods  to  the 
east  of  the  Edward  Everett  house,  on 
G,  between  Seventeenth  and  Eighteenth, 
on  the  south  side.  It  is  so  called  because 

that  eminent  jurist  lived 
Wift  House,     here  twelve  years,  during 

the  administrations  o  f 
Monroe  and  J.  Q.  Adams.  Mrs.  Lock- 
wood  tells  us  that  it  is  not  known  who 
built  the  house,  but  that  it  was  occupied 
at  the  beginning  of  the  century  by  Wash- 
ington's private  secretary,  Col.  Tobias 
Lear,  a  Revolutionary  officer,  who  was 
the  commis  ioner  that  concluded  the 
peace  with  Tripoli.  Wirt  was  United 
States  Attorney-General  from  1817  to 
1829.  His  gardens  were  large  and  beauti- 
ful, for  his  wife  was  exceedingly  fond  of 
flowers  and  was  the  author  of  "  Flora's 
Dictionary."  The  most  brilliant  enter- 
tainments of  that  day  were  given  here, 
until  Jackson's  time,  when  it  was  sold 
and  occupied  later  by  a  succession  of  THE  MEXICAN  EMBASSY.-  HI  3  i  street,  N.  w. 
Cabinet  officers  and  high  functionaries,  one  of  whom  gave  a  dinner  to  the  Prince 
of  Wales  under  its  roof.  During  or  after  the  war  it  became  the  office  of  the  Army 
Signal  Corps ;  and  there  the  present  weather  service  was  developed.  The  present 
chief  signal  officer  and  arctic  explorer,  Gen.  A.  W.  Greely,  resides  near,  at  No. 
1914  G  Street. 

Going  westward  on  I  Street  from  Fourteenth  Street,  the  first  house  on  the  right  is 
owned  and  occupied  by  John  W.  Foster,  the  diplomat,  who  was  Secretary  of  State 

under  Harrison  and,  later,  advisory  counsel  to  China  in  her  settlement 
I  Street,  with  Japan.  The  large  brick  house  adjoining  is  the  Mexican  Legation. 

Chief  Justice  Waite  lived  in  the  house  beyond  the  alley,  now  occupied 
by  the  widow  of  ex-Governor  Swann.  The  brownstone  mansion  at  No.  1419  is  the 
residence  of  John  W.  Thompson,  president  of  the  National  Metropolitan  Bank. 
Senator  Chandler  of  New  Hampshire  lives  in  No.  1421,  once  the  residence  of  Caleb 
Gushing.  The  southeast  corner  of  Fifteenth  and  I  streets  is  the  Chamberlin  Hotel, 
which  occupies  three  houses  that  formerly  belonged  to  Fernando  Wood,  ex-Governor 
Swann  of  Maryland  (who  placed  in  one  of  them  two  Thorwaldsen  mantels  from  the 
Van  Ness  mansion),  and  James  G.  Elaine,  who  lived  there  when  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Representatives.  Opposite  Chamberlin's,  on  the  southwest  corner  (No.  1500 
I  Street),  Hamilton  Fish  lived  when  he  was  Secretary  of  State,  and  it  is  now  the  resi- 
dence of  John  McLean,  of  the  Cincinnati  Enquirer.  The«e  houses  face  upon 
McPherson  Square,  one  of  the  most  finished  of  the  city's  smaller  parks. 

The  noble  equestrian  statue  that  graces  this  square  was  erected  by  the  Army  of 
the  Tennessee  to  its  commander,  James  13.  McPherson,  who  was  killed  at  Atlanta; 

and  it  was  his  successor,  Gen.  John  A.  Lo^an,  who  made  the 
McPherson  dedicatory  oration,  when,  amid  a  great  military  display,  this  statue 
Statue.  was  unveiled  in  187G.  The  sculptor  was  Louis  T.  Robisso,  mid 

the  statue  was  composed  of  cannon  captured  in  Georgia.  The 
cost  was  about  $50,000. 


STREETS,  SQUARES,  AND   RESIDENCES. 


151 


Many  fine  residences  and  hotels  face  this  square,  and  Vermont  Avenue  passes 
through  it  toward  the  northeast. 

Continuing  westward,  No.  1535  I  Street  is  the  residence  of  James  G.  Berret,  who 
was  mayor  of  Washington  during  the  Civil  War.    Mr.  Justice  Gray  lives  in  No.  1601 ; 
No.  1600  is  the  home  of  Mrs.  Tuckerman,  the  widow  of  a  New  York 
banker;  No.  1617  was  the  residence  of  the  late  Georue  W.  Riggs,  and  Storied 

is  now  occupied  by  his  daughters  ;  1710  is  the  Women's  Club;  1707  is  Houses, 

the  residence  of  Mrs.  Stanley  Matthews  ;  Paymaster-General  Watmough 
of  the  navy  lives  in  No.  1711,  and  John  A.  Kasson  in  No.  1726.  No.  1731  is  a  famous 
house,  having  been  occupied  by  Mr.  Frelinghuysen  when  he  was  Secretary  of  State, 
William  C.  Whitney,  Cleveland's  first  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  John  Wanamaker, 
when  he  was  Postmaster-General ;  it  is  now  owned  and  occupied  by  S.  S.  Rowland,  a 
son-in-law  of  the  late  August  Belmont.  In  No.  1739,  at  the  corner  of  Eighteenth 
Street,  resides  Harriot  Lane  Johnson,  who  presided  at  the  White  House  during  the 
Buchanan  administration.  Gen.  T.  II.  Rucker,  U.S.A.,  a  prominent  officer  in  the 
Civil  War,  and  father  of  the  widow  of  General  Sheridan,  lives  at  No.  2005;  Admiral 
Selfridge  dwells  at  No.  2013;  Gen.  Robert  Macfeely,  U.S.A.,  at  No.  2015;  and  Prof. 
Cleveland  Abbe,  the  meteorologist,  at  No.  2018. 

Following  K  Street  westward  from  Twelfth  Street,  the  first  house  on  the  southwest 
corner  is  the  parsonage  of  the  New  York  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  occupied  by 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Radcliffe.  la  No.  1205  resides  A.  S.  Soloman,  the  almoner  of  Baron 
Hirsch,  the  Jewish  philanthropist.  Number  1301  was  once  the  residence  of  Ros'coe 
Conkling;  No.  1311  was  built  by  Ben  Holiday,  who  operated  the  pony  express  across 


THE  NEW  CHINESE  LEGATION.  —  Corner  Eighteenth  and  Q  Streets,  N.  W. 


152 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


RESIDENCE  OF  SENATOR  J.  B.  FORAKER. 
1500  Sixteenth  Street,  N.  W. 


the  continent  for  many  years  before  the 
construction  of  the  Union  Pacific  Rail- 
way ;  No.  1313  was  formerly  the  home 
of  Robert  G.  Ingersoll;  ex-Secretary 
John  Sherman  lives  at  No.  1321 ;  and 
1325  was,  during  the  war,  the  residence 
of  Secretary  Edwin  M.  Stanton  ;  John 
G.  Carlisle  lived  at  No.  1426;  Admiral 
Worden,  the  commander  of  the  Monitor 
during  her  fight  with  the  Merrimac, 
lived  at  No.  1428,  and  Senator  Gorman 
at  No.  1432.  The  large  house  at  the 
corner  of  Vermont  Avenue  and  K  Street 
is  leased  by  Jefferson  Levy,  the  Hebrew 
member  of  Congress  from  New  York, 
and  the  brownstone  front  adjoining  is 
the  temporary  headquarters  of  the  At- 
torney-General. Representative  Hitt  of 
Illinois  lives  at  No.  1507 ;  Mrs.  B.  H. 
Warder  at  No.  1515 ;  and  the  new  yellow 

house  near  the  corner  of  Sixteenth  Street  is  the  home  of  the  widow  of  George 
W.  Childs  of  Philadelphia.     The  house  at  the  southeast  corner  of 

On  K  Street*     K  and  Sixteenth  streets,   another    of  Richardson's  productions,    is 
occupied  by  the  widow  of  Nicholas  Anderson  of   Cincinnati.     Mr. 

Hitchcock,  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  lived  in  No.  1601 ;  Senator  Wetmore  of  Rhode 

Island  in  No.  1609;  the  Rev.  Dr.  McKim,  rector  of  Epiphany  Church,  at  No.  1621  ; 

Senator  Matthew  Quay  in  No.  1620 ;  Jerome  Bonaparte,  the  great-grandnephew  of 

Napoleon,  in  No.  1627  ;  ex-Senator  Murphy  of  New  York  in  No.  1701,  and  Titian  J. 

Coffey,  an  ex-Secretary  of  the  Navy,  lived  in  No.  1713.     "  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  " 

was  written  in  the  house  at  No.  1730,  which  was  then  the  residence  of  Dr.  Swan 

M.    and    Mrs.   Frances    Hodgson-Burnett  —  the    former    a    distinguished    oculist, 

and  the  latter  the  well-known  novelist. 
Sixteenth  Street,  which 

starts   from    Lafayette 

Square,  opposite  the  White 
House,   is 

Executive        sometimes 

Avenue.  known   as 

Executive 

Avenue.  St.  John's  Church 

is  on  the  right,  at  the  cor- 
ner of  H  Street,  and  the 

residence  of  Secretary  John 

Hay  on  the  left.     At  the 

northwest    corner   of   I 

Street    Mr.   Justice    Gray 

of  the  Supreme  Court  re- 
sides, and  back  of  him  is 

The  Gordon,  a  family 

hotel ;  No.  930  is  the  home 

ofMaj.  George  M.  Wheeler, 


RESIDENCE  OF  SENATOR  EUGENE  HALE. 
1001    Sixteenth  Street,  N.  W. 


STREETS,  SQUARES,  AND   RESIDENCES. 


153 


U.  S.  A.,  who  conducted  the  "surveys  west  of  the  100th  meridian"  with  which 
his  name  is  identified.  Senator  Hale  of  Maine  lives  at  No.  1001  ;  Surgeon-General 
Sternberg  of  the  army,  at  No.  1019;  Senator  Proctor  of  Vermont  at  the  northeast 
corner  of  L  Street,  and  E.  F.  Andrews,  the  artist,  at  No.  1232.  Passing  Scott  Circle, 
ex-Representative  Huff  of  Pennsylvania  resides  at  No.  1323 ;  the  Rev.  Alexander 
Mackay-Smith,  rector  of  St.  John's  Church,  at  No.  1325 ;  Senator  Foraker  of  Ohio, 
at  1500 ;  W.  G.  Gurley,  a  Washington  banker,  at  No.  1401 ;  Mr.  Justice  Brown  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  at  No.  1720  ;  Gen.  Rufus  Saxton,  U.  S.  A.,  at  No.  1821,  and  other 
equally  famous  people  on  both  sides.  The  conspicuous  brownstone  "castle"  on 
high  ground  at  the  end  of  Sixteenth  Street,  on  the  left,  is  the  home  of  ex-Senator 
Henderson,  of  Missouri. 

Massachusetts  Avenue  is  one  of  the  finest  streets  in  the  city,  and  a  great  promenade. 
It  stretches  parallel  with  Pennsylvania  Avenue  from  Hospital  Square,  on  the  Anacostia 
River,  northwestward  through  Lincoln  Square,  Stanton  Square,  Mount 
Vernon  Square  —  a  pretty  little  park  where  New  York  Avenue  crosses  Massachu- 
Kighth  and  K  streets,  three  blocks  north  of  the  Patent  Office  —  Thomas  setts  Avenue. 
Circle,  Scott  Circle,  Dupont  Circle,  and  Decatur  Circle,  where  it  bends 
slightly  and  is  extended  through  the  elegant  suburb  on  the  banks  of  Rock  Creek,  and 
so  out  to  the  hilly  region  north  of  Georgetown.  An  excellent  view  of  this  stately 
boulevard  can  be  obtained  at  its  junction  with  Twelfth  Street,  which  is  one  of  the 
highest  points  in  Washington.  Ascension  Episcopal  Church  fills  the  northwest 
corner  at  this  crossing.  Robert  Hinkley,  the  artist,  lives  in  No.  1310  ;  Mr.  Justice 
Morris  of  the  District  Supreme  Court,  in  No.  1314;  J.  Stanley-Brown,  private  secre- 
tarv  ..f  the  late  Pivsid.-nt  (iarliel-1.  and  u  Molly"  Garfield,  his  wife,  in  No.  1318.  Mr. 
E.  Francis  Riggs  ivsides  at  No  1311,  and  the  widow  of  Admiral  Dahlgren  in  No.  1325  ; 
No.  1330  is  the  Legation  of  Chile,  and  the  large  square  house  at  the  junction  of  M 

Street  and  Vermont  Avenue,  facing 
Thomas  Circle,  is  the  home  of  ex-Justice 
Wiley,  of  the  District  Supreme  Court.  Mr. 
Justice  Brewer  lives  at  No.  1412,  Senator 
Cullom  at  No.  1413,  S.  H.  Kauffman,  pro- 
prietor of  the  Evening  Star,  at  No.  1421. 
The  large  red-brick  house,  No.  1435,  is 
the  <  iennan  Embassy.  The  brownstone 
building  surrounded  by  large  grounds, 
on  the  south  side  of  Massachusetts  Avenue 
between  Fifteenth  and  Sixteenth  streets, 
is  the  Louise  Home.  It  was 
founded  by  the  late  W.  W.  Louise  Home. 
Corcoran,  and  nearly  all  its 
inmates  are  widows  of  ex-Confederate 
officers  belonging  to  the  aristocracy  of  the 
South,  who  lost  their  fortunes  during  the 
war.  Nearly  opposite  it  was  the  home  of 
the  late  Prof.  Spencer  F.  Baird,  long 
I'nited  States  Fish  Commissioner  and  Sec- 
retary of  the  Smithsonian  Institution. 
The  familiar  name  for  Scott  Circle,  the 
locality  around  the  statue  of  General  Scott, 
at  the  junction  of  Massachusetts  and 
STATUE  OF  GEN.  wiNFiELD  s.  SCOTT.  Rhode  Island  avenues,  Sixteenth  and  N 


154 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE   TO    WASHINGTON. 


streets,  is  "Calamity  Circle,"  because  every  person  who  built  a  house  there  died 
shortly  afterward,  or  met  with  misfortune. 

This  equestrian  statue  of  Gen.  Winfield  Scott,  the  victor  in  the  Mexican  War,  was 
erected  in  1874.     "  It  was  modeled  by  H.  K.  Brown,  and  cast  in  Philadelphia  from 
cannon  captured  in  Mexico.     Its  total  height  is  fifteen  feet,  and  its  cost 
Scott  Statue,   was  $20,000.    The  pedestal  is  of  granite  from  Cape  Ann  quarries,  and 
is  c  >mposed  of  five  huge  blocks,  said  to  be  the  largest  ever  quarried  in 
the  United  States.    The  cost  of  the  pedestal  was  about  $25,000.    General  Scott  is  rep- 
resented in  the  uniform  of  his  rank  as  Lieutenant-General." 

The  large  house  at  the  junction  of  N  Street  and  Massachusetts  Avenue  is  the  resi- 
dence of  Supreme  Justice  Shiras.  The  mansion  to  the  northward,  between  N  Street 
and  Rhode  Island  Avenue,  was  erected  by  Prof.  Alex.  Graham  Bell,  inventor  of  the 
telephone,  and  after  several  years  was  sold  to  Levi  P.  Morton,  who  occupied  it  while 
he  was  Vice-President.  The  square  brick  house  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Sixteenth 
Street  was  built  by  Senator  Cameron  of  Pennsylvania,  and  sold  to  Mr.  D.  P.  Morgan, 
a  New  York  banker,  whose  widow  and  family  still  reside  there.  On  the  opposite 
side  of  Sixteenth  Street  the  late  William  Windom  lived  while  he  was  a  Senator 
from  Minnesota  and  Secretary  of  the  Treasury;  it  is  now  owned  and  occupied  by 
Charles  A.  Munn,  formerly  of  Chicago.  The  house  adjoining  belongs  to  Stileon 
Hutchins.  E.  Kurtz  Johnson,  a  banker,  built  and  died  in  the  house  at  the  western 
corner  of  N  Street.  Continuing  westward  on  Massachusetts  Avenue, 
Fine  Mr.  Spofford,  of  the  Library  of  Congress,  lives  at  No.  1621 ;  No.  1627  is 

Residences,  the  residence  of  the  widow  of  the  late  Senator  Vance  of  North  Caro- 
lina. The  Attorney-General  at  No.  1707 ;  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
at  No.  1715 ;  Beriah  Wilkins,  of  the  Washington  Post,  in  No.  1709 ;  Senator  Lodge  of 
Massachusetts,  in  No.  1765.  The  castellated  house  opposite  belongs  to  the  widow  of 
the  late  Belden  Noble,  and  is  occupied  by  the  Spanish  Legation.  Gen.  Nelson  A. 
Miles  lives  near  by  at  No.  1736  N  Street ;  the  Postmaster-General  lives  at  No.  1774 ; 
Senator  Fairbanks  of  Indiana  lives  at  No.  1800 ;  Mrs.  Wadsworth  of  Geneseo,  New 
York,  owns  the  large  house  on  the  tri- 
angle opposite.  The  large  mansion  of  fire- 
brick on  P  Street,  back  of  it,  is  occupied 
by  William  J.  Boardman  of  Cleveland, 
Ohio.  Passing  beyond  Dupont  Circle,  No. 
1915,  adjoining  the  "Stewart  Castle,"  is 
the  residence  of  Paymaster  Michler,  of 
the  navy,  and  on  the  corner  opposite  lived 
for  many  years  the  late  Mrs.  Craig  Wads- 
worth,  who  was  a  leader  of  Washington 
society;  No.  2013  is  the  residence  of 
Charles  M.  Ffoulke,  and  the  hall  which 
adjoins  it  on  the  east  was  built  to  exhibit 
his  collection  of  tapestries,  which  is  one 
of  the  finest  in  the  world.  On  the  oppo- 
site side  of  the  street,  in  the 
Blainc  rear  of  the  Elaine  house, 

House.  Miss  Grace   Denio    Litch- 

field,  the  novelist,  resides. 
Number  2100  is  the  residence  of  B.  H. 

Warner,  a  Washington  banker,  and  the  RESIDENCE  OF  MRS  u  s  GRANT 

large  mansion  at  No.  2122  was  erected  by  2111  Massachusetts  Avenue,  N.  w. 


STREETS,  SQUARES,  AND   RESIDENCES. 


155 


the  late  Mrs.  Patton,  who  inherited  a 
fortune  gained  by  her  husband  in  the 
mines  of  Nevada;  it  is  now  occupied  by 
her  four  daughters.  No.  2111,  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  street,  was  erected 
by  ex-Senator  Edmunds  of  Vermont, 
and  was  sold  by  him  in  1895  to  the 
widow  of  General  Grant,  who  now 
resides  there  with  her  daughter,  Mrs. 
Nellie  Sartoris.  The  large  stone  chateau, 
in  French  style,  is  the  residence  of  Mrs. 
Richard  Townsend. 

Connecticut  Avenue,  from  H  Street 
to  the  boundary,  is  the  Sunday  afternoon 
promenade.  Starting  northward  upon 
our  survey  at  Lafayette  Square,  where 
tin-  gardens  of  the  old  Webster  house  fill 
the  corner  at  the  right,  No.  814  was  the 
residence,  after  the  Civil  War,  of  Admiral 
Wilkes,  and  is  still  occupied  by  his 
family.  Just  beyond  is  Farragut  Square, 
a  small,  prettily  planted  park,  in  the 
center  of  which  is  a  statue  to  the  hero 
of  Mobile  Bay  and  the  Mississippi  forts. 

This  statue    of  Farragut  represents 
him  as  standing  upon    the  deck  of  his 
flagship    Hartford,   from  whose  propeller  the  metal  of  which  the    statue  is  com- 
posed was  taken,  ami  was  cast  in  1880,  after  models  by   .Mrs.   Lieu- 
tenant  Hoxie,    then    Miss    Vinnie   Ream.      It  cost  $25,000,   and  was          Farragut 
dedicated  in  April,  1881,    many  of  Farragut's  old  shipmates  taking  Statue. 

part  in  the  ceremonies. 

The  large  gray  house  on  the  next  corner  (numbered  1705  K  Street)  was  originally 
the  residence  of  Alexander  R.  Shepherd,  the  rebuilder  of  Washington.  It  was  for 
many  years  the  Russian  Legation,  and  is  now  owned  and  occupied  by  Mrs.  McLean. 
The  houses  back  of  it  are  usually  occupied  by  attaches  of  the  different  legations.  The 
large  brick  building  at  the  corner  of  L  Street,  on  the  right,  is  a  Catholic  school  for 
irirls  ;  and  the  yellow  house  on  the  opposite  corner  of  De  Sales  Street  is  the  Grafton 
Hotel.  Col.  John  M.  Wilson,  Superintendent  of  Public  Buildings  and  Grounds, 
resides  at  N<>.  1141;  Senator  Wolcott  of  Colorado,  at  No.  1221,  and  Prof.  Thomas 
Wilson,  anthropologist  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  at  No.  1218.  The  handsome 
stone  church,  with  the  large  square  tower,  is  the  Presbyterian  Church 
of  the  Covenant.  On  the  opposite  corner,  to  the  north,  is  the  British  British 

Embassy.  This  is  one  of  the  few  legations  in  Washington  that  are  Embassy. 
owned,  and  not  rented,  by  their  governments,  the  others  being  those  of 
Austria,  Brazil,  Germany,  Japan,  and  Korea.  It  occupies  the  site,  curiously  enough, 
of  the  first  and  only  cricket  club  at  the  capital,  which  ceased  to  play  many  years 
ago.  On  the  point  between  Connecticut  Avenue  and  Eighteenth  Street  stands  the 
residence  of  Commander  William  H.  Emory,  U.  S.  N.,  now  occupied  by  ex- 
Representative  Reyburn  of  Philadelphia.  The  Austrian  Government  occupies  No. 
1307  as  the  residence  for  its  Legation.  Inspector-General  Breckenridge,  U.  S.  A., 
dwells  at  No.  1314;  Admiral  Carter  at  No.  1316;  the  family  of  the  late  Gar- 


BRONZE  STATUE  ADMIRAL  DAVID  G.  FARRAGUT. 

Farragut  Square,  Intersection  Connecticut  Avenue  and 

I  Street,  N.  W.     By  Mrs.  Vinnie  Ream  Hoxie. 


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PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 


THE   BRITISH  LEGATION.  —  Northwest  Corner  Connecticut  Avenue  and  N  Street,  N.  W. 

diner  G.  Hubbard  at  No.  1328,  and  Prof.   A.  Graham  Bell  at  No.  1321.      These 
houses  are  upon  Dupont  Circle. 

This  pretty  circular  park  occupies  the  interior  of  the  space  made  by  the  intersec- 
tion here  of  Connecticut,  Massachusetts,  and  New  Hampshire  avenues,  and  P  and 

Nineteenth  streets.  In  its  center  stands  the  bronze  statue  of  Admiral 
DupOflt  Samuel  F.  Dupont,  a  popular  officer  of  the  navy  during  the  Civil  War, 

Circle.  which  was  designed  by  Launt  Thompson,  cost  $10,000,  and  was  unveiled 

in  1884.  Passing  beyond  Dupont  Circle,  the  large  red-brick  house  to 
the  westward,  on  the  point  between  P  Street  and  Massachusetts  Avenue,  was  erected 
by  the  late  James  G.  Elaine  when  he  was  Secretary  of  State  in  Garfield's  Cabinet;  it 
still  belongs  to  his  estate,  but  is  occupied  by  Mrs.  Westinghouse  of  Pittsburg.  The 
gray  house,  No.  8,  is  known  as  Castle  Stewart.  It  was  for  many  years  the  Chinese 
Legation,  and  there  was  given  the  famous  ball,  in  1886,  when  Washington  was  scan- 
dalized by  scenes  of  social  riot.  It  is  now  the  residence  of  its  owner,  Senator  Stewart 
of  Nevada.  The  big  cream-colored  house,  with  the  lofty  pillared  portico,  at  No.  1400 
New  Hampshire  Avenue,  opposite,  is  the  home  of  the  wealthy  merchant,  L.  Z.  Leiter, 
formerly  of  Chicago,  whose  daughter  married  Lord  Curzon,  the  viceroy  of  India.  No. 
1611  Connecticut  Avenue  is  the  home  of  Mrs.  Colton,  whose  husband  was  formerly 

treasurer  of  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad.  Francis  B.  Colton  lives  in 
Meridian  the  English  basement  house,  a  little  farther  north.  The  large  brownstone 
Hill.  residence  at  the  point  between  Connecticut  Avenue  and  Twentieth 

Street  is  the  winter  home  of  Mr.  Perkins,  of  Boston  ;  the  brick  house, 
No.  1705,  is  the  home  of  Lyman  Tiffany ;  the  Belgian  Legation  is  at  1716,  and  William 


STREETS,  SQUARES,  AND   RESIDENCES.  157 

E.  Curtis,  the  newspaper  writer  and  author  of  many  books  of  travel,  lives  at  No.  1801, 
at  the  corner  of  S  Street.  The  little  chapel  on  the  hill  above  is  St.  Margaret's  (Epis- 
copal). The  Chinese  Legation  is  at  the  corner  of  Eighteenth  and  Q  streets. 

"Connecticut  Avenue  Extended "  is  the  name  applied  to  this  street  where,  beyond 
Rock  Creek,  it  resumes  its  straight  course.  It  leads  directly  to  Chevy  Chase,  and  bids 
fair  to  become  the  highway  of  one  of  the  best  of  the  future  suburban  districts. 

On  Rhode  Island  Avenue.  The  widow  of  Chief  Justice  Waite  lived  at  No.  1616, 
just  west  of  Scott  Circle ;  and  the  widow  of  General  Sheridan  at  No.  1617,  across  the 
way ;  No.  1626  is  the  home  of  Elihu  Root,  Secretary  of  War,  and  at  No.  1640,  Mr. 
Olney,  formerly  the  Secretary  of  State  resided.  No.  1741  is  the  historic  house  pre- 
sented to  Admiral  Dewey  and  transferred  by  him  to  his  wife.  The  small  "circle," 
at  Vermont  Avenue  and  P  Street,  is  named  Iowa,  and  is  ornamented  by  a  statue  of 
Gen.  John  A.  Logan,  surmounting  a  bronze  pedestal. 

NYw  Hampshire  Avenue  is  a  long  street  nearly  parallel  with  Vermont  Avenue, 
reaching  from  the  Potomac  northeast  to  the  boundary  at  the  head  of  Fifteenth  Street, 
and  then  extended  through  the  distant  suburb  of  Brightwood.     There 
is  a  pretty  triangle  where  it  crosses  Virginia  Avenue;  and  where  it  New 

crosses  Pennsylvania,  K,  and  Twenty-third  streets  is  a  park  named  Hampshire 
Washington  Circle.  An  equestrian  bronze  statue  of  Washington,  Avenue. 

minified  and  cast  by  Clark  Mills,  was  erected  here  long  ago,  at  a  cost  of 
$50,000.    The  artist  is  said  to  have  intended  to  represent  him  as  he  appeared  at  the 
battle  of  Princeton. 

Some  distance  above  this,  the  triangle,  at  the  junction  of  the  Avenue  N  and 
Twentieth  Street,  is  covered  by  the  residence  of  Dr.  Guy  Fairfax  Whiting.  Christian 
Heurich,  who  owns  the  brewery  a  block  below,  lives  at  No.  1307.  Paymaster-General 
Stewart,  United  States  Navy,  resides  at  No.  1315 ;  Mrs.  Phoebe  Hearst,  widow  of  the 
late  Senator  from  California,  and  famous  for  her  charities,  at  No.  1400;  and  the 
widow  of  the  late  "  Sunset "  Cox  at  No.  1408.  North  of  Dupont  Circle  the  Leiter 
mansion  is  conspicuous,  and  that  of  W.  C.  Whittemore,  another  retired  Chicago 
merchant,  is  on  the  next  corner,  at  No.  r.i'ii.  The  large,  white  house  opposite  this  is 
the  home  of  Lieut.  Rifli:ird.-»n  Ctover,  United  States  Navy.  The  Rev.  P.  Van  Wyck, 
a  retired  chaplain  of  the  navy,  lives  at  No.  1601 ;  Representative  Dalzell  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, at  No.  1605;  and  Thomas  Nelson  Page,  the  novelist,  on  the  corner  of  R  Street. 
Some  notable  residences,  away  from  the  district  surveyed  above,  should  be  men- 
tioned. The  officers  attached  to  the 
Navy  Yard,  to  the  Washington  Bar- 
racks and  to  the  cavalry  post  at  Fort 
Meyer,  dwell  at  these  stations  in  the 
more  or  less  cozy  quarters  provided  by 
the  Government  for  them.  Senator 
Morgan  of  Alabama  lives  in  a  brown- 
stone  house  opposite  the  First  Pres- 
byterian Church,  at  No.  315  Four-and- 
a-half  Street. 

Mgr.  Martinelli,  the  Apostle  Legate 
of  the  Pope  of  Rome    to  the  United 
States,  resides  at  No.  201 
I  Street.    This  house  was       Grant  Gift 
presented    to   General  House. 

RESIDENCE  OF  L.  z.  LEITER,  ESQ.  Grant  by  the  citizens  of 

New  Hampshire  Avenue  and  P  Street,   N.  W.  Washington    at    the    cloSC    Of   the     War 


158 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO    WASHINGTON. 


and  occupied  by  him  until  he  was  inaugurated  as  President.  It  was  afterward  the 
residence  of  Justice  Bradley  of  the  Supreme  Court.  The  adjoining  house,  No. 
203,  was  presented  to  Gen.  W.  T.  Sherman,  who  lived  there  for  several  years, 
and  afterward  on  Fifteenth  Street.  Mrs.  Jean  Lander,  once  a  famous  actress, 
resides  at  No.  45  B  Street,  S.  E.,  facing  Capitol  Park ;  and  John  G.  Nicolay,  private 
secretary  to  President  Lincoln,  and  his  co-biographer  with  Mr.  Hay,  is  at  No.  212,  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  same  street. 


ADMIRAL  DEWEY'S  RESIDENCE. 
1741    Rhode  Island  Avenue. 


XIII. 
EXCURSIONS  AKOIT  WASHINGTON. 

1.  To  Mount  Vernon. 

The  pilgrimage  to  the  home  and  tomb  of  George  Washington  at  Mount  Vernon  is 
regarded  by  most  Americans  as  a  duty  as  well  as  a  pleasure,  and  foreigners  look  upon 
it  as  a  compliment  due  to  the  nation.  It  forms,  moreover,  a  delightful  excursion. 

Either  of  two  routes  may  be  taken  to  Mount  Vernon — by  steamboat  on  the 
Potomac  or  by  electric  cars. 

The  electric  trains  of  the  Washington,  Alexandria  &  Mount  Vernon 
Railway  leave  their  station,  at  Pennsylvania  Avenue  and  Thirteen-and-  Electric 

one-half  Street,  at  intervals  of  about  forty-live  minutes  from  10  A.  M.  to  Railway 

4  ]•.  M.,  and  reach  Mount  Yernon  in  an  hour.     The  last  train  returning  Route. 

to  the  city  leaves  MI. mil  Yernon  at  •">  \>.  M.  The  fare  is  50  cents  for  the 
round  trip.  t«»  which  miiM  In-  added  L'-")  cents  for  admission  to  the  grounds.  The  route 
lies  down  Fourteenth  Street  to  Long  Bridge.  by  which  the  river  is  crossed  into 
Virginia.  This  is  the  bridge  which  became  so  famous  during  the  Civil 
War  as  the  military  r«>nte  int..  the  seceding  States,  and  which  was  so  Long  Bridge. 
incesr-antly  shaken  by  the  tread  of  troops.  It  gives  a  fine  view  of  the 
Potomac,  and  crosses  the  Mats  which  will  some  day  become  an  island  park  ;  a  glimpse 
of  the  grounds  of  Washington  Barracks  is  obtained.  At  its  further  end  there  still 
stands,  plainly  seen  at  the  left  of  the  track  as  soon  as  the  lirst  high  ground  is  reached, 
Fort  Knnyon,  a  strong  earthwork  erected  in  isiil  to  guard  the  head  of  the  bridge 
from  raiders.  A  mile  farther  is  the  junction  where  the  electric  line  to  Arlington 
branches  off.  A  little  beyond  it  the  train  pa»esSt.  A saph  and  then  skirts  the  base 
of  Braddock  Heights  —  the  low  hills  upon  which  Braddock's  army  was  encamped  in 
1755  before  undertaking  that  disastrous  march  against  the  French  and  Indians  at 
Fort  Duquesne  (now  Pittsburgh  when-  Braddock  was  killed  and  his  army  saved 
from  annihilation  only  by  the  genius  of  his  young  Colonial  aid,  George  Washington. 
The  city  of  Alexandria  is  then  entered. 

Alexandria  began,  under  the  name  of  Bellhaven,  in  1748,  and  had 
a  promising  early  career.  "  It  rapidly  became  an  important  port,  and  Alexandria. 
developed  an  extensive  foreign  trade.  It  was  well  known  in  the  great 
English  commercial  cities.  General  Washington,  Governor  Lee,  and  other  prominent 
Virginians  interested  themselves  in  its  development,  and  at  one  time  it  was  thought 
it  would  become  a  greater  city  than  Baltimore.  Warehouses  crowded  with  tobacco 
and  flour  and  corn  lined  its  docks,  and  fleets  of  merchant  vessels  rilled  its  harbor." 
The  founding  and  advancement  of  Washington  and  the  building  of  railroads,  which 
diverted  traffic  to  inland  channels,  destroyed  its  importance,  and  the  coming  of  the 
Civil  War  ruined  it  socially.  Here  the  Union  troops  began  their  " invasion"  of  Vir- 
ginia soil,  and  here  fell  Ellsworth  —  the  first  notable  victim  of  the  conflict.  The  old 
red-brick  hotel  where  he  pulled  down  the  Confederate  flag  is  now  pointed  out  to 
strangers  at  the  corner  of  the  first  street  beyond  the  railway  station  on  Washington 
Street.  It  was  called  the  Marshall  House. 

159 


160 


PICTORIAL    GUIDE   TO    \\  'A  Si  1 1  Mi  To.N  . 


INTERIOR  CHRIST  CHURCH,  ALEXANDRIA. 

The  old  town  contains  many  quaint  and  interesting  relics  of  the  past,  of  which 

the  most  interesting  is  Christ  Church  (near  the  Washington  Street 
Christ  station),  in  which  Washington's  family  and  all  the  respectable  persons 

Church.  of  his  neighborhood  used  to  worship.     It  has  been  kept  as  near  as  may 

be  as  it  was  in  those  days;  and  the  old  square  pew  in  which  "His 
Excellency,  the  General,"  used  to  sit,  gazing  up  at  the  high  pulpit  during  the  long 
and  strong  sermons,  is  still  pointed  out.  Other  things  of  interest  for  their  ass  ciations 
are  the  Masonic  lodgeroom,  where  Washington  and  other  prominent  men  c  f  that  day 
were  wont  to  meet ;  the  house  in  which  Braddock  had  his  home  and  military  head- 
quarters ;  the  local  monument  to  Confederate  soldiers  (seen  from  the  train  at 
Washington  Street),  and  other  houses  and  objects. 

Soon  after  leaving  Alexandria  by  way  of  King  Street  (with  a  station  at  Royal 
Street)  the  Potomac  comes  into  view,  and  the  train  crosses  upon  a  bridge  the  broad 

estuary  of  Big  Hunting  Creek,  at  the  head  of  which  was  built,  during 
BdOW  the  Civil  War,  Fort  Lyon,  one  of  the  principal  defenses  of  Washington. 

Alexandria.     The  red-brick  building  seen  some  distance  up  the  stream  is  the   old 

Episcopal  Theological  Seminary,  founded  in  colonial  times.  More 
plainly  visible  at  the  left  is  Jones  Point,  marked  by  a  lighthouse.  This  was  the 
southern  corner  of  the  original  District  of  Columbia.  Near  the  lighthouse  is  buried 
a  marked  corner-stone  placed  there  with  much  ceremony  by  Washington  and  other 
founders  of  the  Government;  and  it  was  proposed  to  erect  there  a  magnificent  monu- 
ment. A  mile  farther  on  the  position  of  Fort  Foote  on  the  other  side  of  the  river  is 
seen  ;  and  presently  the  track  rises  to  higher  ground  where,  looking  back,  the  Capitol 
is  visible  a  dozen  miles  away.  Here,  among  peach  orchards,  begins  the  Mount 
Vernon  estate,  which  in  George  Washington's  time  contained  about  8,000  acres  ;  and 


EXCURSIONS    ABOUT   WASHINGTON. 


161 


just  beyond  Hunter's  Station  is  seen,  some  distance  at  the  left,  the  white  house  in 
which  dwelt  Col.  Tobias  Lear,  Washington's  secretary.  The  half-ruined  barn  some- 
what removed  from  the  house  goes  back  to  the  early  history  of  the  property.  The 
remainder  of  the  run  is  through  beautiful  fields,  with  pleasant  outlooks  all  around, 
frequent  views  of  the  river,  and  a  sight  of  the  flags  flying  over  Fort  Washington. 

The  terminus  is  at  the  garden  gate  of  the  Mount  Vernon  grounds,  within  three 
minutes'  walk  of  the  mansion. 

The  river    route    to    Mount  Vernon    is    by  the    comfortable  steamer  Charles 
Macalester,   built    for    the   Association,   which  leaves  the   wharves  at  the  foot  of 
Seventh  Street  daily  except  Sunday,  at  10  A.  M.,  and  returns  at  2.30 
p.  M.;    in  summer  tin-  hour  is  9  o'clock,  and  there  is  an  afternoon  trip,    River  Route. 
returning  lute  in  the  evening.      Only  round-trip  tickets  are  sold  (75 
cents),  including  admission  (25  cents)  to  the  grounds.    This  steamer  also  goes  on  to 
Notley  Hall  and  Marshall  Hall. 

The  Potomac  River  trip  is  one  of  great  enjoyment  on  a  fine  day.  As  the  steamer 
moves  out  into  the  stream,  it  rides  in  a  broad  tidal  channel  dredged  for  harbor  pur- 
poses by  the  Government  and  kept  full  by  a  tidal  reservoir  above.  The  long  artificial 
island  which  separates  this  harbor  from  the  river  itself  will  hereafter  become  a  park. 
On  the  city  shore,  immediately  below  the  wharves,  appears  the  pleasant  parade  of 
Washington  Barracks,  or  The  Arsenal,  as  it  is  still  more  commonly  called  —  a 


CHRIST  CHURCH,  ALEXANDRIA. 


11 


162  PICTOEIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 

military  post  on  the  peninsula  between  the  Potomac  and  its  eastern  branch.  Its  land 
entrance  is  at  the  foot  of  Four-and-one-half  Street,  and  is  reached  by  electric  care 
from  Pennsylvania  Avenue  via  Seventh  Street.  A  trifling  settlement  styled  Carrolls- 
burg,  with  an  earthen  breast-high  battery,  existed  on  the  extremity 
Washington  of  this  point,  which  was  called  Turkey  Buzzard  or  Greenleaf  s  Point 
Barracks.  when  the  city  was  laid  out ;  and  in  1803  the  peninsula  was  reserved 
for  military  purposes  as  far  as  T  Street,  S.  W.  What  few  buildings  were 
there  in  1814  were  destroyed  by  the  British,  who  lost  a  large  number  of  men  by  drop- 
ping a  " port-fire"  into  a  dry  well  where  a  great  quantity  of  navy  powder  had  been 
hidden,  thus  producing  an  impromptu  volcano.  In  1826  the  northern  end  of  the 
reservation,  as  far  back  as  U  Street,  denoted  by  the  jog  in  the  river  wall  on  the  Poto- 
mac side,  was  walled  off  as  a  site  for  a  district  penitentiary.  A  building  was  erected 
having  a  yard  with  a  high  inclosing  wall,  and  here,  in  1865,  were  confined  the  con- 
spirators in  the  assassination  of  Lincoln.  Four  of  them  were  hung  and  buried  there. 
Exactly  where  this  execution  and  the  interments  were  made  is  not  accurately 
known,  but  it  is  believed  that  the  gallows  was  planted  near  the  circular  flower  bed 
now  in  front  of  the  commandant's  door,  and  that  the  bodies  were  buried  near  its 
foot.  All  were  soon  afterward  removed,  the  penitentiary  was  swept  away,  the  limits 
of  the  reservation  were  advanced  to  P  Street,  and,  in  1881,  the  arsenal  was  abolished. 

The  verdant  parade,  with  its  flag  and  guns,  and  avenue  of  big  trees,  its  former 
storehouses,  which  during  the  war  contained  enormous  quantities  of  arms  and 
ammunition,  and  are  now  used  as  barracks,  and  its  quadrangle  of  officers'  quarters 
at  the  extreme  point,  make  a  pretty  picture  as  we  float  past.  As  it  is  the  head- 
quarters of  a  regiment  of  artillery  it  has  the  band,  and  during  the  pleasant  half  of  the 
year,  guard-mounting  at  9  A.  M.  and  dress  parade  at  5  P.  M.  are  conducted  with  much 
ceremony,  while  battery  drills  can  be  seen  almost  any  morning  at  10  or  11  o'clock. 

The  Anacostia  River  next  opens  broadly  at  the  left,  and  the  navy  yard  and 

southern  front  of  the  city  are  exposed  to  view.     On  the  further  bank  looms  up  the 

great  Government  Hospital  for  the  Insane,  which  cost  $1,000,000,  and 

Hospital  is    one    of   the    finest  institutions  of  its  kind  in  the  world.     It  is 

for  Insane,     primarily  intended  for  demented  men  of  the  army  and  navy ;  and 

there  Lieutenant  Gushing,  of  torpedo-boat  fame,  and  Captain  McGiffin, 

the  hero  of  the  naval  fight  of  the  Yalu,  in  China-Japan  war,  ended  their  blighted 

days. 

The  low,  level  grounds  of  Giesboro  Point,  bordering  the  river  below  the  asylum, 
were  occupied  during  the  war  as  cavalry  camps  and  drilling  stations.  Opposite  it  is 
the  broad  estuary  of  Four-Mile  Run.  Alexandria  now  comes  into  view. 

(A  ferry  also  runs  at  hourly  intervals  between  the  Seventh  Street  wharf  and 
Alexandria.  The  Macalester  also  stops  at  Alexandria  both  going  and  coming.) 

Just  below  Alexandria  the  lighthouse  and  opening  of  Hunting  Creek,  already 
described,  are  passed.  This  creek  gave  its  name  to  the  Washington  plantation  before 
Lawrence  Washington  named  it  "  Mount  Vernon,"  in  compliment  to  an  admiral  with 
whom  he  had  served.  Near  here  is  a  little  stopping-place  called  Gunston  Landing, 
where  some  of  the  river  boats  stop  to  take  on  milk  and  vegetables  for  the  city 
market.  It  is  the  ancient  landing  for  the  estate  of  the  eminent  Mason  family,  whose 
colonial  seat,  Gunston  Hall,  is  still  standing  a  short  distance  inland,  though  no  longer 
in  possession  of  the  Masons.  It  was  a  familiar  calling-place  for  Washington,  his 
nearest  neighbor  in  fact. 

On  the  hilly  Maryland  side  of  the  Potomac,  toward  which  the  boat  now  heads, 
was  another  commanding  earthwork,  Fort  Foote,  once  of  military  importance. 
This  fort  was  kept  in  repair  for  years  after  the  Civil  War,  and  the  United  States 


EXCURSIONS  ABOUT  WASHINGTON.  163 

still  owns  its  site.    The  next  stop  is  made,  about  twelve  miles  below  the  city,  at 
Fort  Washington,  a  historic  fort  on  a  point  of  the  Maryland  shore,  within  sight  of 
Mount  Vernon  and  commanding  the  channel.      Tradition    says    that    the    early 
explorers  of  the  Potomac  found  an  Indian  "castle"  here,  and  that 
Washington  advised  the  building  of  a  fort  on  this  headland,  as  soon  as  Fort 

the  District  of  Columbia  was  created.  L'Enfant  drew  its  plans  as  his  Washington. 
last  public  work,  and  a  strong  fortress  was  begun,  but  was  blown  up  by 
the  Americans  in  1812,  when  they  heard  that  the  British  were  coming.  It  was 
rebuilt  in  1898,  under  the  threat  of  war  with  Europe,  and  made  the  principal  defense 
of  the  capital  against  sea  attack.  The  principal  battery  consists  of  five  8-inch  rifles, 
mounted  on  disappearing  carriages,  behind  enormous  embankments  of  earth  and  con- 
orete,  200  feet  above  the  river  level.  These  guns  command  the  river  for  a  distance  of 
twenty  miles,  and  have  an  extremely  accurate  range  of  over  six  miles.  Fort  Sheridan 
is  being  constructed,  nearly  opposite,  where  will  be  mounted  two  huge  12-inch  rifles, 
having  an  even  longer  range  and  more'  destructive  fire,  besides  several  8-inch  guns. 
Arrangements  are  making  for  the  placing  of  sub-aquatic  mines  in  the  river  whenever 
needed,  controlled  from  these  forts.  It  is  believed  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  an 
enemy  to  reach  the  capital  by  sailing  up  the  river.  The  only  hope  of  reduction  of  the 
forts  would  be  from  the  land  side,  and  here  elaborate  defenses,  to  be  defended  by 
mortar  batteries,  fixed  and  field  artillery,  and  large  bodies  of  infantry,  are  now  in 
process  of  construction.  Extensive  barracks  are  building  at  Fort  Washington, 
which  is  destined  soon  to  become,  probably,  the  most  important  garrison  station 
near  the  capital. 

The  United  States  Fish  Commission  maintains  a  fish-hatching  station  near  Fort 
Washington. 

Mount  Vernon  is  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Potomac,  sixteen  miles  below  Wash- 
ington.    The  lands  about  it  were  a  part  <>{'  an  extensive  grant  to  John  Washington, 
the  first  of  the  family  who  came  to  America  in  1656,  and  they  descended 
rather  fortuitously,  in  17-VJ,  to  George,  then  hardly  more  than  a  lad.  "Mount 

He  married  in  1759,  and  continued  to  develop  and  beautify  the  estate  Ycrnon. 

until  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolution,  when  the  ability  he  had 
shown  in  the  Virginia  militia  called  him  to  the  service  of  the  United  Colonies.  He 
returned  to  Mount  Vernon  at  the  close  of  the  war,  but,  to  his  grief,  was  obliged  soon 
to  quit  its  beloved  acres  for  the  cares  of  the  first  Presidency  of  the  Republic.  Dur- 
ing this  interval  of  five  years  an  almost  continuous  stream  of  visitors  had  been  enter- 
tained there,  ami  among  them  were  many  foreigners  of  note  as  well  as  representative 
Americans  of  the  time.  Finally,  in  1797,  the  great  commander  was  released  from  the 
cares  of  government,  and  enabled  to  retire,  to  pass,  as  he  hoped,  many  quiet  and 
enjoyable  years  upon  his  plantation.  Only  two  years  were  vouchsafed  him,  however, 
for  on  December  14,  1799,  he  died  of  membranous  croup  (or  barbarous  medical  treat- 
ment) following  exposure  in  a  storm.  He  was  buried  upon  his  own  estate,  and  the 
family  declined  to  accept  the  subsequent  invitation  of  Congress  to  transfer  the  body 
to  the  undercroft  of  the  Capitol. 

For  sixteen  years  Washington  cultivated  his  great  farm  and  lived  the  usual  life  of 
a  Virginia  planter.    He  raised  large  quantities  of  tobacco,  which  he  shipped  to  Lon- 
don direct  from  his  own  wharf  at  Mount  Vernon.    He  had  no  ambition 
for  public  life  after  his  term  of  service  in  the  Virginia  Legislature  had     The  Estate. 
expired,  and  was  content  with  the  pursuit  of  agriculture  and  the  social 
pleasures  of  a  country  gentleman.     He  had  some  of  the  best  society  in  Virginia  — 
"the  polite,  wealthy  and  fashionable  " — was  a  profuse  and  liberal  host,  was  fond 
of  fox  hunting,  fishing,  fowling,  and  athletic  sports,  and  was  happy  in  his  home  and 


164 


PICTOKIAL   GtTIDK  TO   WASHINGTON. 


domestic  relations.     His  wife  was  thoroughly  domestic  in  her  tastes  and  habits,  and 
a  careful  housekeeper. 

Washington's  property,  estimated  as  worth  $530,000,  descended,  at  the  death  of 
Mrs.  Washington,  here,  in  1802,  to  Bush  rod  Washington,  then  a  Justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  who  died  in  1829,  leaving  the  estate  to  his  nephew,  John  Augustine 
Washington,  from  whom  it  passed  by  legacy,  in  1832,  to  his  widow,  and  from  her,  in 
1855,  to  her  son.  He  proposed  to  sell  it,  when  a  Southern  lady,  Miss  Ann  Pamela 
Cunningham,  secured  the  refusal  of  it,  and,  after  failing  to  interest  Congress  in  her 
proposal  that  the  Government  should  buy  and  preserve  it  as  a  memorial,  succeeded  in 
arousing  the  women  of  the  country.  An  association  of  these  women,  named  Mount 
Vernon  Ladies'  Association  of  the  Union,  with  representatives  from  every  Stat^,  was 
incorporated  by  Virginia  in  1856,  and  in  1858  it  piid  $203,000  for  the  central  part  of 
the  property  (some  200  acres),  covenanting  to  hold  it  in  perpetuity.  The  admission 
fee  of  25  cents  goes  to  the  payment  of  current  expenses. 

The  approach  to  Mount  Vernon,  by  the  river,  impresses  one  with  the  sightliness 
of  the  situation  and  the  dignity  of  the' mansion,  which  shines  among  the  trees  from 
an  elevation  150  feet  above  the  landing  wharf. 

"  In  the  summer,  Mount  Vernon  is  a  mass  of  foliage  to  the  river's  edge.  It  has  a 
great  growth  of  ancient  trees  and  luxuriant  undergrowth.  Like  all  the  region  in  which 
it  is  located,  it  is  thickly  wooded,  and  from  the  river  has  an  exceedingly  picturesque 
appearance.  The  mansion  is  very  nearly  concealed  by  the  trees  surrounding  it. 

There  is  only  one  place  as 
you  approach  it  from  the 
north  where  it  can  be  seen 
at  all.  Approaching  it  from 
the  south  nothing  of  it  can 
be  seen  save  a  small  part  of 
the  roof.  From  the  south 
the  river  curves  directly  to 
the  estate.  Until  you  get 
within  a  short  distance  of  it 
a  high,  jutting  bank  hides 
it  from  view.  When  the 
bank  is  passed  the  estate 
comes  boldly  in  sight  and 
presents  a  most  beautiful 
appearance.  It  is  located 
on  an  elevation  —  the  high- 
est point  on  the  Virginia  side  of  the  Potomac  —  and  from  the  grounds  delightful  views 
of  river  and  shore  can  be  obtained  through  openings  in  the  groves  of  trees." 

Grounds  and  Buildings. 

The  Tomb  of  Washington  is  the  first  object  of  attention,  and  stands  immediately 
at  the  head  of  the  path  from  the  landing.  Its  position,  small  dimensions,  and  plain 

form  of  brick  were  dictated  by  Washington  in  his  will.  The  back  part 
Tomb  Of  of  it,  extending  into  the  bank,  and  closed  by  iron  doors,  entombs  the 

Washington,  bodies  of  about  forty  members  and  relatives  of  the  family.  The  front 

part,  closed  by  plain  iron  gates,  through  which  anyone  may  look,  con- 
tains two  plain  sarcophagi,  each  excavated  from  a  single  block  of  marble,  which  were 
made  and  presented  by  John  Struthers  of  Philadelphia,  in  1837.  That  one  in  the 


THE   OLD   TOMB. 


166 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO 


center  of  the  little  inclosure  holds  the  mortal  remains  of  the  Father  of  his  Country, 
within  the  mahogany  coffin  in  which  they  were  originally  placed.  At  his  left  is  the 
body  of  his  "  consort,"  Martha  Washington.  Both  the  sarcophagi  are  sealed  and  are 
intended  never  to  be  opened;  nor  are  the  vaults  at  the  rear.  Four  times  a  year, 
however,  the  iron  gates  are  opened  by  the  authorities,  and  it  is  on  these  occasions 
that  the  wreaths  and  other  offerings  of  flowers  are  deposited. 

This  was  not  the  first  burial-place  of  Washington.     At  the  time  of  his  death  his 

body  was  placed  in  the  older  and  smaller  family  tomb  a  few  steps  farther  north  and 

nearer  the  river,  which  is  now  overgrown  with  ivy  and  shaded  by 

Old  Tomb.       immense  oaks.     Here  Mrs.  Washington  was  laid  beside  him,  and  there 

they  remained  until  1837,  when  they  were  removed  to  their  present 

resting-place.    Judge  Bushrod  Washington  and  several  other  relatives  of  the  family 


THE  TOMB  OF  GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 

are  buried  near  by,  beneath  monuments  that  bear  their  names,  and  between  the 
Tomb  and  the  river-bluff  used  to  be  buried  all  the  slaves  who  died  upon  the  estate  — 
how  many  is  unknown  ;  but  the  only  one  marked  is  that  of  the  old  nurse  of  Mrs. 
Jane  Washington,  one  of  the  latest  occupants  of  the  estate,  and  the  last  person  to  be 
entombed  within  the  vault. 

The  Mansion  itself  stands  upon  an  eminence  overlooking  broad  reaches  of  the 
Potomac,  and  125  feet  above  it.     It  is  built  of  wood,  the  framework  being  of  oak,  is 

96  feet  long  by  30  feet  wide,  and  has  two  stories  and  an  attic.  The 
The  eastern  or  river-facing  front  is  shaded  by  a  portico,  as  high  as  the  eaves, 

Mansion.         supported  by  eight  square  posts  of  wood,  and  paved  at  the  level  of  the 

ground  with  tiles  imported  from  England  in  1786  ;  this  pavement  is  14£ 
feet  wide.  The  roof  of  the  portico  is  crowned  by  an  ornamental  balustrade  half  con- 
cealing the  four  dormer  windows  by  which  that  side  of  the  attic  is  lighted  ;  and  the 
ceiling  and  posts  of  the  portico  are  neatly  paneled. 

This  river-facing  side,  though  no  more  conspicuous,  is  less  interesting  architec- 
turally, than  the  western  or  landward  front  of  the  house,  which  was  the  one  moat 


EXCURSIONS   ABOUT   WASHINGTON.  167 

often    approached    by    visitors    in    the    old    coach-traveling   days.     This    has   no 
porch,   but  presents    an    extruded   plain   front,  with  an  ornamental 
central    and    two    side     doors,    symmetrically    disposed,    while    the  Western 

roof  is  pleasingly  broken  by  a  low  gable  and  two  dormers,  and  by  Front, 

the  little  central  cupola  and  two  large  chimneys. 

From  each  end  of  the  mansion,  on  this  side,  curving  colonnades  connected  with 
it  the  kitchen  on  the  left  and  the  office  of  the  estate  on  the  right ;  and  a  generous 
lawn  stretched  before  the  house,  shaded  along  the  sides  and  at  a  distance  by  numer. 
ous  <_rreat  trees  which  still  survive,  and  containing  a  sun-dial.  This  was  called  the 
Bowling  Green,  and  terminated  at  the  gate  on  the  highway  by  which  carriages 
entered  the  home  grounds. 

The  Kitchen  was  a  spacious  house  nearly  all  of  one  end  of  which  was  devoted  to  a 
Imuv  fireplace,  whose  andirons  and  turnspit  are  still  in  place,  and  a  fire  still  burns 
upon  the  hearth.  Here  a  light  lunch  is  served  and  souvenirs  are  sold 
by  the  Ladies'  Association.  Next  the  house  stands  the  original  well,  Outbuildings. 
from  which  one  may  still  pump  a  drink  of  water  ;  and  just  beyond  it  is 
the  great  Smokehouse,  always  so  important  an  adjunct  to  every  self-supporting  Southern 
establishment.  Beyond  the  smokehouse,  on  the  road  which  leads  southward  toward 
the  Tomb  and  steamboat  landing,  is  the  old  Laundry,  and  then  the  Coachhouse  in 
which  may  be  seen  an  old-time  chaise,  said  to  have  been  one  of  the  Washington  car- 
riages: in  the  General's  time  this  house  was  the  shelter  for  his  great  white  chariot-of- 
-tate.  Then  comes  the  Barn,  the  oldest  building  on  the  estate,  which  was  constructed 
by  Washington's  father,  in  1733,  from  bricks  said  to  have  been  imported  from  Eng- 
land. Its  roof,  of  course,  is  new,  and  the  building  is  still  serviceable. 

The  outer  buildings  at  the  right  (or  north)  of  the  house,  include  the  building  in 
which  the  manager  of  the  rstate  resided,  and  where  was  the  Business  Office;  it  is  now 
the  office  of  the  Superintendent.  Just  beyond  was  the  Carpenter  Shop ;  and  in  the 
rear  of  this  a  larger  building  called  the  Spinning-House  where,  in  old  times,  the  slave 
women  gathered  to  spin  and  weave  the  cotton,  wool,  and  flax  for  the  clothes  of  the 
servants  and  t>  make  garments  and  rag  carpets  ;  the  room  is  now  filled  with  looms 
and  spinning  wheels.  Still  farther  away  in  this  direction  is  seen  the  row  of  restored 
buildings  originally  the  quarters  of  the  colored  servants  required  about  the  house, 
stables,  and  gardens.  The  field  hands  lived  in  cabins  scattered  about  the  estate.  Near 
them  are  the  greenhouses. 

The  Gardens  are  perhaps  the  most  interesting  places  in  the  whole  grounds.  They 
were  laid  out  in  a  f  rmal  style  of  walks  and  beds,  as  was  then  the  fashion,  defined  by 
hedges  of  box,  which  still  grow  luxuriantly  and  are  kept  well  trimmed 
as  of  yore.  In  the  early  summer  they  are  a  marvel  of  flowers  and  beau-  Gardens. 
tiful  foliage.  That  enclosure  on  the  north  side,  between  the  lawn  and 
the  negro  quarters,  was  the  rose  garden.  It  contains  specimens  of  that  rose  named 
by  Washington  for  his  mother,  and  others  bearing  his  own  name  and  that  of  Nellie 
Custis.  It  is  no  wonder,  as  we  are  told,  that -it  was  one  of  the  regular  afternoon 
pleasures  of  Madame  Washington  to  gather  rose  leaves  here  to  make  rose  water  and 
a  certain  perfumed  unguent  for  which  she  was  famous  among  her  friends.  It  was  a 
habit  of  the  family  to  ask  distinguished  guests  to  plant  something  as  a  keepsake,  and 
several  of  these  mementos  still  flourish.  The  little  structure  at  the  end  of  the  long 
walk  in  the  garden  is  reputed  to  have  been  the  schoolroom  of  the  Custis  children. 
The  "Vineyard  Enclosure,"  as  Washington  designated  it,  in  the  rear  of  the  kitchen, 
was  devoted  more  to  fruit  and  vegetables,  yet  was  a  charming  garden,  too. 

The  Summer  House,  on  the  brow  of  the  river  bluff,  stands  upon  the  site  of  an 
original  one,  and  has  beneath  it  a  deep  cellar  suitable  for  storing  ice.  The  slope  of 


168  PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 

the  bluff  was  devoted  by  Washington  to  the  purposes  of  a  deer  park,  and  deer  have 
been  replaced  there  since  1887. 

The  Mansion  and  Its  Relics. 

The  mansion  is  divided  interiorly  by  a  broad  hall  running  from  side  to  side,  and 
having  the  main  stairway,  and  here  one  may  well  begin  the  survey  of  the  interior. 

When  Mount  Vernon  was  acquired  by  the  Ladies'  Association  it  was  not  only  out 
of  repair  but  the  furniture  had  been  distributed  to  various  heirs  or  sold  and  scattered. 
An  effort  was  at  once  made  to  recover  as  much  as  possible,  in  order  to 
Interior.  restore  as  closely  as  might  be  the  original  home-like  appearance  of 
the  hou-e.  As  it  has  been  impossible  to  do  this  thoroughly  a  great 
many  other  articles  of  furniture,  adornment,  and  historical  interest  have  been  added. 
In  order  to  do  this  the  various  State  branches  of  the  Association  were  invited  to 
undertake  to  refurnish  one  room  each,  and  many  have  done  so,  and  the  names  of 
these  States  are  identified  with  the  apartments  they  have  taken  charge  of.  A  con- 
siderable quantity  of  furniture  as  well  as  personal  relics  of  George  and  Martha 
Washington  are  here,  however,  especially  in  the  bediooms  where  they  died.  These 
are  mostly  distinctly  labeled,  so  that  the  visitor  can  distinguish  between  what 
belonged  to  the  Father  of  his  Country  and  what  is  simply  illustrative  of  the  domestic 
life  of  his  day. 

The  Central  Hall  contains  three  of  Washington's  dress  swords,  the  most  interesting 
of  which  is  the  one  bequeathed  to  his  nephew  Lewis,  since  it  is  the  one  he  wore 

when  he  resigned  his  commission  at  Annapolis,  when  he  was  inaugu- 
Central  Hall,  rated  President  at  New  York,  and  elsewhere  on  ceremonious  occasions. 

Another  was  worn  by  him  in  the  Braddock  campaign.  Here,  also, 
hangs  the  main  key  of  the  Bastlle  —  that  prison  in  Paris  which  was  so  justly  hated 


THE  CENTRAL  HALL. 


by  the  people,  and  which  was  demolished  by  the  mob  in  1789.  Lafayette,  sent  it  to 
Washington  with  a  characteristic  letter;  and  also  the  model  of  the  Bastile  in  the 
Banquet  Hall.  Lafayette's  Agreement  to  serve  as  Major-General  in  the  American 
army  hangs  near  by.  The  hall  appears  as  it  was  redecorated  by  Washington  in 


EXCURSIONS   ABOUT  WASHINGTON.  169 

1775,  and  the  engravings  are  reprints  of  pictures  he  owned.    The  tall  clock  on  the 
stairs  was  presented  by  New  Jersey ;  the  table  belonged  to  W.  A.  Washington. 

The  Music-room  or  East  Parlor  opens  from  this  hall  by  the  first  door  at  the  right, 
and  is  under  the  care  of  the  Vice-Regent  of  the  Association  from  Ohio.  It  is  crowded 
with  objects,  of  which  the  most  conspicuous  is  the  harpsichord  that 
was  given  to  Nellie  Custis  by  Washington,  together  with  his  grand  Music-room. 
military  plume,  when  she  married  Laurance  Lewis  in  1798.  "When 
the  hour  came  the  tall,  majestic  figure  emerged  from  his  bedroom  clad  in  the  old, 
worn  continental  buff  and  blue  .  .  .  and  at  the  appointed  moment  gave  the 
pretty,  blushing  creature,  with  her  wild-rose  cheeks  and  dark  and  liquid  eyes,  into 
the  keeping  of  his  trusted  nephew,  Laurance."  It  is  such  gracious,  homely  pictures 
as  these  that  rise  to  the  imagination  as  one  loiters  about  the  st.ried  homestead  of 
the  Father  of  his  Country.  Here  also  are  the  stool  belonging  to  the  piano,  and 
Mi.-s  (  'n-ti-'  embroidery  frame  ;  Washington's  flute  —  of  rosewood,  silver-mounted  — 
his  card-table,  the  guitar  and  music-b  >ok  of  a  relative,  and  in  the  cabinet  many  small 
articles  of  tableware,  his  spectacles,  a  steel  camp-fork,  etc.,  which  belonged  to  the 
General  or  his  family.  The  upholstering  of  the  reproduced  furniture  and  the  form 
of  the  Venetian  mirror  are  like  that  originally  here. 

The  Il'i.sV  I'ur/iii-,  entered  by  the  second  hall  door  on  the  right,  looks,  in  its  walls, 
ceiling,  and  handsome  corner  fireplace,  as  it  did  when  Washington  left  it.  Above  the 
mantel  ;nv  carved  the  c«»at-of-arms  of  the  family,  and  his  crest  and 
initials  appear  ca>i  in  relief  on  the  iron  fireback ;  the  mantel  painting  West  Parlor. 
of  ships  is  said  to  portray  a  part  of  the  fleet  at  Carthagena  of  that 
Admiral  Vernon  after  whom  the  estate  was  named.  The  carpet  is  a  large  rug 
presented  by  Louis  XVI  to  Washington.  It  was  woven  to  order,  is  dirk  green  with 
orange  stars;  its  centerpiece  is  the  seal  of  the  United  States,  and  the  border  is  a 
floriated  design  with  swans.  The  globe  and  several  chairs  here  also  belonged  to 
the  fin-nit nre  of  the  house.  A  spinet  and  two  tine  old  candlesticks  will  be  noticed, 
the  latter  standing  upon  a  beautiful  pier  table.  This  room  was  refurnished  by 
Illinoi-. 

The  tirst  door  on  the  left   «>pen<  into   .V/-x.   W-ixhiugtoris  Sitting-room,  refurnished 
by  Georgia  in  the  manner  of  the  period.    The  mahogany  secretary  once  stood  in 
Washington's    military    headquarters  at  Cambridge,    Mass.;    and  the 
tallies  and    mirror  are  historic.     Some    elaborate  candlesticks  an  1   a  Sitting-room, 
sconce  for  candles  are    noteworthy,   and   the   latter  belonged   in  the 
family  ;  while  there  is  here  preserved  a  candle  molded  for  the  illumination  at  York- 
town  in  celebration  of  Cornwallis'  surrender.    The  engravings  representing  the  siege 
of  Gibraltar  hung  in  this  same  hou>e  when  its  master  was  alive. 

Tin-  Dinimj-ronni  is  next  beyond,  and  still  has  the  appearance  and  much  of  the 
furniture  of  the  time  of  its  illustrious  owner.  The  Italian  mantel  and  stucco  orna- 
ments of  the  walls,  cornice,  and  ceiling  are  admirable;  and  the  orna- 
mented lire  hack  came  from  "Belvoir,"  the  country  seat  of  Lord  Fairfax,  Dining-room. 
Washington's  early  friend  and  patron,  while  the  andirons  and  fender 
belong  to  the  Hut  ledge  house.  The  sideboard  was  Washington's,  and  the  cut-glass 
decanter  and  table  cutlery  and  cases;  while  the  china  in  the  corner  cupboard  is  a 
ropy  of  the  set  given  to  Mrs.  Washington  by  the  officers  of  the  French  fleet  in  1792. 
The  rug,  tables,  and  chairs  belong  to  that  period;  and  among  the  portraits  of 
Revolutionary  generals  on  the  walls  is  one  of  Miss  Cunningham,  who  originated 
the  Mount  \Yrnon  Association. 

The  southern  end  of  the  house  is  occupied  by  a  second  stairway  and  by  a  large 
apartment  known  as  the  Library  in  which  are  gathered    an  original  mahogany 


170  PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 


THE  BANQUET  HALL. 

bookcase,  and  a  few  of  the  volumes  which  belonged  to  Washington,  most  of  the  remain- 
der of  which  are  now  in  the  Athenaeum  Library  of  Boston.   The  shelves 
Library.  of  the  bookcases  are  now  filled  mainly  with  duplicates  of  those  Wash- 

ington possessed  and  wiih  literature  about  Washington  ;  and  upon  the 
walls  hang  reprints  of  documents  connected  with  his  public  life,  one  of  which  is  a 
printed  proof  of  the  Farewell  Address,  corrected  by  Washington's  own  hand.  A  silver 
inkstand,  some  chairs,  a  painting  of  the  Great  Falls  of  the  Potomac,  made  at  his 
request,  and  a  few  small  articles  are  personal  relics. 

The  Banquet  Hall  is  an  addition  made  to  the  northern  end  of  the  house  after 
George  received  it  from  his  father.     Its  length  is  the  whole  breadth  of  the  mansion, 
and  its  richly  ornamented  ceiling  is  two  stories  in  height,  while  it  is 
Banquet  lighted  by  a  broad,  arched  and  mullioned  window.     Opposite  the  win- 

Hall,  dow  is  a  highly  ornate  fireplace  and  mantel  of  Italian  marble  and 

workmanship,  which  once  occupied  a  place  in  the  home  at  Wanstead, 
England,  of  Samuel  Vaughn,  who  brought  it  to  America  as  a  gift  to  Washington  in 
1785.  The  center  of  the  hall  is  occupied  by  a  great  table,  similar  to  the  original  one, 
upon  which  lies  Washington's  "  plateau  "  of  silver  and  mirror-glass,  intended  as  an 
ornament  for  the  center  of  the  table  on  ceremonious  occasions.  His  punch  bowl  is 
also  to  be  seen  among  many  other  small  articles  of  use  or  ornament  that  were  in  the 
house,  and  which  are  now  safely  locked  in  a  cabinet.  The  model  of  the  Bastile,  a 
French  clock  that  still  keeps  good  time,  two  porcelain  vases,  silver  bracket  lamps,  a 
mirror,  rosewood  stands  for  flower  vases,  a  surveyor's  tripod,  and  lesser  objects  are 
identified  with  the  house  and  its  owners;  while  a  lock  of  the  General's  hair  and 
Martha's  ivory  fan  are  peculiarly  personal  and  precious.  The  old  silk  standard  is 
reputed  to  have  been  captured  by  Washington  ;  and  visitors  should  examine  closely 
the  portrait  woven  upon  silk,  in  French  Jacquard  looms,  which  cost  $15,000,  go  elab- 
orate a  process  was  required.  A  great  painting  by  Rembrandt  Peale  fills  the  west- 
ern end  of  the  room,  which  has  been  fitted  up  by  New  York. 

Of  the  bedrooms  on  the  second  floor  the  most  interesting  to  all  is  that  of  the 
General  himself —  the  Room  in  which  Washington  died.  It  is  at  the  south  end  of  the 
house,  over  the  library,  and  the  ladies  of  Virginia  have  been  able  to  restore  it  more 
nearly  to  its  original  appearance  than  any  other  part  of  the  house.  The  bed  is  in 


EXCURSIONS   ABOUT    WASHINGTON. 


171 


ROOM  IN  WHICH  GENERAL  WASHINGTON  DIED. 

tin-  same  place  and  the  same  one  upon  which  Washington  died,  and  the  chairs,  small 
tables,  and  mirror  \\ere  a  part  of  tin-  scene.     The  hangings  of  the  win- 
dows and  bedhead  copy  those  ..f  the  time  ;  two  cushions  were  worked  Death 
by  Martha  \Va>liin.iri«'ii  and  a  dimity  chair  cover  shows  the  needlework         Chamber. 
of  her  granddaughter;  whilr  parts  of  Washington's  traveling  chest  and 
camp  equipage  remind  the  beholder  of  his  stormy  life.     There  is  little  else  in  the 
room  than  what  properly  heloiiir-  there,  and  the  simplicity  is  impressive. 

Murtha  MW/ 'nnjln,t  »//»»/.  tlnvc  years  after  her  Imshaiid,  in  the  room  in  the  attic 
immediately  above  this — a  bedroom  she  had  chosen  because  his  room 
had  been  clo-ed    a>  \va-  the  CUMMIIH.  and  from  this  south  attic  window          Martha's 
she  could  see  his  ^rave.     Wisconsin   iuis  relitted  her  room  as  nearly  as  Room. 

p«>s>iblr  as  it  was  \\hen   Martha  slept   there,  but  only  the  corner  wash- 
stand  really  belonged  to  her.    Ottier  rooms  onthe  second  floor  are  known  by  special  names. 


ROOM  IN  WHICH  MARTHA  WASHINGTON  DIED. 


172 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO    WASHINGTON. 


The  Lafayette  Room  is  so  called  because  the  Marquis  occupied  it  when  at  Mount  Venn  m ; 

it  was  refitted  by  New  Jersey.  The  River  Room,  by  Pennsylvania,  cou- 
BedfOOms.  tains  furniture  identified  with  Franklin  and  other  of  Washington's 

friends  and  relatives.  The  Guest  Chamber  is  due  to  Delaware;  the  Given 
Room  to  West  Virginia;  and  that  in  which  Nellie  Custis  slept  to  Maryland,  where  the 
bedstead  and  other  furniture  all  belonged  to  old  Southern  families  who  lived  in  a 
style  very  similar  to  that  at  Mount  Vernon.  The  Upper  Hall,  communicating  with 
these  bedrooms,  has  a  cabinet  in  which  are  to  be  seen  several  of  the  Mount  Vernon 
fire-buckets,  a  brown  suit  of  clothes,  with  velvet  waistcoat  and  silk  stockings  worn 
by  Washington,  and  a  compass  and  reading  glass  that  were  used  by  him,  as  well  as 
several  relics  of  members  of  his  family  and  descendants.  The  musket  was  brought 

to  America  by  Lafayette. 
Attic.  In  the  Attic  a  series  of  small  bedrooms  have  been  furnished  by  the 

vice-regents  of  various  States,  with  articles  of  colonial  manu- 
facture and  interest. 


2.   To  Arliiig'toii  National  Cemetery  and  Fort  Meyer. 

Arlington,  an  estate  identified  in  a  peculiarly  intimate  manner  with  the  history  of 

the  founding  and  preservation  of  the  Union,  and  singularly  beautiful  withal,  would 

be  one  of  the  most  attractive  places  at  the  National  Capital  apart  from 

Beauty  Of        the  sacred  interest  imparted  to  it  by  its  soldier  dead.    For  several  gen- 

the  Estate.       erations  before  the  Civil  War  the  home  of  the  Custis  and  Lee  families, 

it  has  been  devoted  since  that  time  to  the  purposes  of  the  foremost  of 

the  national  military  cemeteries.      Here,  behind  the  inscribed  arches  of  the  great 

gates,  made  from  the  marble  pillars  of  the  old  War  Department  building,  and  under 


ARLINGTON  HOUSE.  —  Formerly  the  Home  of   General  Robert  E    Lee, 


EXCURSIONS   ABOUT    WASHINGTON. 


173 


the  oaks  that  belonged  to  the  greatest  of  "their  enemy,"  sleep  almost  a  score  of 
thousands  of  Union  soldiers,  and  every  year  sees  the  eternal  enlistment  in  their  ranks 
of  many  more  —  among  them  officers  of  rank  and  distinction  famous  for  deeds  that 
shall  make  their  names  immortal. 

Two  routes  may  be  taken  to  Arlington,  and  the  best  way  is  to  patronize  both, 
going  by  one  way  and  returning  by  the  other.     This  prevents  retracing  one's  steps, 
and  makes  the  course  of  walking  down  hill.     In  pursuance  of  this 
method  take  the  Pennsylvania  Avenue  cars  (if  the  F  Streetcars  are  Routes. 

taken,  descend  the  stone  steps  from  Prospect  Street  to  Pennsylvania 
Avenue  at  the  Union  station)  to  the  extremity  of  the  line  (Union  station,  Thirty -sixth 
Street)  in  Georgetown,  and  walk  across  Aqueduct  Bridge  to  Roslyn,  Virginia,  where, 
at  the  western  extremity  <>f  the  bridge,  electric  cars  may  be  taken  to  Fort  Meyer  and 
the  northern  gate  of  Arlington  Cemetery.     This  is  a  ride  of  hardly  ten  minutes,  and 
the   whole  trip  from  the  Treasury  c  >nsume.s  only  thirty-five  minutes 
when    close  connection  is   made;  fare  from   Roslyn,    10  cents;    rjund  Public 

trip,  1")  cents.     Public  carriages  start  from  the  terminal  station  at  the       Carriages. 
Fort  Meyer  gate,  in  which  passengers  are  given  a  tour  of  the  cemetery 
for  25  cents  ;  a  stop  of  iive  minutes  is  made  at  the  mansion,  whe*-e  a  lay-over  ticket 
is  also  given  if  asked. 

The  distance  from  the  Fort  Meyer  gate  to  the  Mansion,  following  the  main  road 
and  flagstone  walk,  is  about  a  third  of  a  mile,  and  shows  nearly  all  of  the  older  and 
more  cultivated  part   of  the  Cemetery.     Southward  of  the  path  the 
graves  of  thousands  and  thousands  of  soldiers  of  the  Civil  War  spread  Soldiers' 

away  through  the  woods,  as  far  as  can  be  see:),  each  marked  by  a  small  Graves. 

marble  head.-tone,  with  here  and  there  a  more  prominent   mark.     At 
intervals  are  placed,  in  front  of  this  fatal  and  impressive  array,  iron  tablets  bearing 
lines  or  stan/as  selected  from  Col.  Theodore  O'l  hint's  eloquent  poem, 


TIM:  HIVOUAC  OF  THE  DEAD. 


The  muffled  drum's  sad  roll  has  beat 

The  soldier's  last  tattoo: 
No  more  on  life's  parade  shull  meet 

That  brave  and  fallen  few. 


Sons  of  the  dark  and  bloody  ground, 

Ye  must  not  slumber  there, 
Where  stranger  steps  and  tongues  resound 

Along  the  heedless  air  : 


On  Fame's  eternal  camping-ground 
Their  silent  tents  an-  spread, 

And  <Jlory  guards,  with  solemn  round, 
The  bivouac  of  the  dead. 


Your  own  proud  land's  heroic  soil 

Shall  be  your  fitter  grave  ; 
She  claims  from  war  its  richest  spoil  — 

The  ashes  of  her  brave. 


No  rumor  of  the  foe's  advance 

Now  swells  upon  the  wind  ; 
No  troubled  thought  at  midnight  haunts 

Of  loved  ones  left  behind. 


Rest  on,  embalmed  and  sainted  dead  ! 

Dear  as  the  blood  ye  gave ; 
No  impious  footsteps  here  shall  tread 

The  herbage  of  your  grave; 


No  vision  of  the  morrow's  strife 
The  warrior's  dream  alarms, 

No  braying  horn  nor  screaming  fife 
At  dawn  shall  call  to  arms. 


Nor  shall  your  glory  be  forgot 
While  Fame  her  record  keeps, 

Or  Honor  points  the  hallowed  spot 
Where  Valor  proudly  sleeps. 


The  neighing  troop,  the  flashing  blade, 

The  bugle's  stirring  blast 
The  charge,  the  dreadful  cannonade, 

The  din  and  shout  are  past. 


Nor  wreck,  nor  change,  nor  winter's  blight, 

Nor  time's  remorseless  doom, 
Shall  dim  one  ray  of  holy  light 

That  gilds  your  glorious  tomb. 


174  PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 

On  the  left,  or  north,  of  the  path  the  hillock  is  more  irregularly  dotted  with  mon- 
uments to  commissioned  officers  of  the  army,  many  of  whom  were  distinguished  in 
the  Mexican  or  Indian  wars  previous  to  that  of  1801-65.     Beside  many 
Craves  Of         of  them  rest  their  wives,  in  accordance  with  the  privilege  given  by  the 
Officers.  Government.     Here,  among  many  of  less  note,  rest  such  famous  com- 

manders as  Belknap,  Burns,  Gleason,  Gregg,  Harvey,  Hazen,  Ingalls, 
King,  Kirk,  Lyford,  Meyer  (whose  idea  it  was  that  these  grounds  should  be  set  51  part 
for  this  purpose),  McKibbin,  Paul,  Plummer,  Steadman,  Turtellotte,  and  many 
others;  and  the  monuments  are  often  exceedingly  appropriate.  The  interest 
increases  as  the  Mansion  is  approached.  This  noble  house,  whose  pillared  portico 
is  so  well  seen  from  the  city,  stands  upon  the  brow  of  a  magnificent 
Site  and  hill  overlooking  the  valley  of  the  Potomac  and  the  Federal  city  —  a 

View.  broad  and  beautiful  view.    On  the  brow  of  this  bluff  are  buried  officers 

of  special  distinction  and  popularity,  and  here  may  be  seen  the  graves 
and  monuments  of  some  of  the  Union's  latest  and  most  distinguished  defenders. 
Here  lie  Gen.  Philip  H.  Sheridan,  beneath  a  grand  memorial  stone;  Admiral  David 
D.  Porter,  Maj.-Gen.  George  H.  Crook,  whose  monument  bears  a  bronze  bas-relief  of 
the  surrender  of  the  Apache  Geronimo;  Maj.-Gen.  Abner  Doubleday,  the  historian  of 
Gettysburg;  Generals  Meigs,  Ricketts,  Benet  and  Watkins;  Colonel  Berdan, 
of  "  sharpshooter"  fame,  and  others.  In  the  rear  of  the  mansion  is  a 
Temple  Of  miniature  temple  upon  whose  columns  are  engraved  the  names  of 
Fame.  great  American  soldiers ;  and  a  lovely  amphitheater  of  columns,  vine- 

embowered,  where  Decoration  Day  ceremonies  and  open-air  burial 
services  may  be  conducted.  Near  it  is  a  great  granite  mausoleum  in  which  repose  the 
bones  of  2,111  unknown  soldiers  gathered  after  the  war  from  the  battle  field  of  Bull 
Run,  and  thence  to  the  Rappahannock.  It  is  surrounded  by  cannon  and  bears  a 
memorial  inscription.  Near  by,  in  a  lovely  glade,  is  buried  Gen.  Henry  W.  Lawton, 
killed  fighting  in  the  Philippines  in  the  autumn  of  1899. 

The  victims  of  the  destruction  of  the  battleship  Maine,  in  Havana,  and  several 

hundred  soldiers  who  lost  their  lives  in  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico,  during  the  war  with 

Spain,  in  1898,  are  buried  together  in  the  southern  part  of  the  cemetery, 

Soldiers  and    reached  by  a  pleasant  road,  winding  through  the  peopled  woods  ;  and 

Sailors  Of        their  monument  is  a  battery  of  great  naval  guns. 

the  Cuban        The  Arlington  mansion  is  a  fine  example  of  the  architecture  of  its 
War.  era,  and  resembles  Jefferson's  mansion  at  Monticello.     Its  upper  floor 

is  occupied  by  the  official  in  charge,  but  the  lower  rooms  are  mainly 
empty,  and  visitors  are  content  with  a  glance  at  them,  preferring  the  open  air  and 
light  of  the  lawns  and  gardens  about  the  house,  and  the  groves  that  now  cover  the 
adjacent  fields.     This  old  home  of  the  Colonial  aristocracy  is  not  only 
The  Mansion,  closely  identified  with  the  annals  of  early  Virginia,  but  with  the  polit- 
ical development  of  the  country.    It  was  bought  as  a  tract  of  1,160  acres, 
for  £11,000,  by  John  Custis,  who,  early  in  the  eighteenth  century,  came  from  the 
Eastern  shore  to  live  on  his  new  property.     His  was  one  of  the  "  first  families  of 
Virginia"  in  every  sense  of  the  word,  and  possessed  great  wealth;  but  he  had  various 
domestic  troubles,  one  of  which  was,  that  his  high-spirited  son,  Daniel  Parke  Custis, 
insisted  upon  neglecting  a  high-born  heiress,  prepared  by  his  parents  for  his  future 
consort,  and  marrying,  instead,  pretty  Martha  Dandridge,  the  belle  of 
Custis  Williamsburg,  the  Colonial  capital.   The  old  gentleman  was  very  angry, 

Family.  until  one  day,  we  are  told,  Martha  Dandridge  met  him  at  a  social  gath- 

ering, and  fairly  captivated  him.  The  marriage  was  made  and  prospered, 
and,  when  old  Custis  died,  his  son  and  his  wife  came  into  possession  and  residence 


176 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 


THE  TEMPLE  OF  FAME. 

here  at  Arlington,  where  Daniel  soon  died,  leaving  Martha  a  young  widow  with  two 
children,  John  Parke  and  Eleanor  Custis.  His  will  entailed  this  estate  to  his  son,  and 
divided  his  other  property,  the  wife  receiving,  as  her  share,  lands  and  securities  worth, 
perhaps,  $100,000.  In  due  time  this  rich  and  blooming  widow  re-entered  society, 
where  she  presently  became  acquainted  with  a  Colonial  colonel,  who  had  recently 
achieved  military  fame  in  Braddock's  expedition  against  Fort  Duquesne.  He  lived 
with  his  mother  at  Mount  Vernon,  only  fifteen  miles  below,  and  his  name  was  George 
Washington.  It  was  not  long  before  he  had  wooed  and  won  the  charming  and  opulent 
widow,  who  laid  aside  her  weeds  and  went  with  her  two  children  to  live  at  her  hus- 
band's home.  Together  they  managed  and  cared  for  the  Arlington  estate,  until  its 
young  owner  should  come  of  age,  and  both  were  often  there.  The  daughter  died,  but 
the  son  grew  to  manhood,  received  his  noble  property,  married  a  Calvert,  and  served 
upon  his  stepfather's  staff  during  the  latter  part  of  the  Revolution.  Then  he,  too, 
died  (1781),  and  his  two  infant  children  were  adopted  by  Washington  and  deeply 
loved.  They  kept  their  own  names,  however,  and  Nelly,  who  seemed  to  liavr 
inherited  the  beauty  of  her  grandmother,  married  Major  Lewis,  a  Virginian.  Her 
brother,  George  Washington  Parke  Custis,  upon  reaching  his  majority,  inherited  and 
took  possession  of  Arlington,  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  ;  and  immedi- 
ately began  the  erection  of  the  present  mansion,  which,  therefore,  Washington  himself 
never  saw,  since  he  died  December  13, 1799,  while  this  house  was  not  completed  until 
1803.  A  few  months  afterward,  Mr.  Custis  married  Mary  Lee  Fitzhugh,  one  of  the 
Randolphs,  and  four  children  were  born  to  them,  but  only  one  survived,  a  daughter, 


EXCURSIONS   ABOUT   WASHINGTON. 


177 


TOMB  OF  THE  UNKNOWN  DEAD. 


TOMB  OF  GENERAL  PHILIP  H.  SHERIDAN. 


12 


178 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 


THE  SHERIDAN  GATE.  — Arlington. 


Mary.  The  Custis  family 
lived  at  Arlington,  improv- 
ing and  beautifying  the 
estate,  winning  the  good 
opinion  of  all  who  knew 
them,  and  entertaining 
handsomely  until  the 
death  of  Mrs.  Custis,  in 
1853,  and  of  her  husband, 
the  last  male  of  his  family, 
in  1857.  The  estate  then 
fell  to  the  daughter,  who, 
meanwhile,  had  married 
a  young  army  officer,  Rob- 
ert E.  Lee, 

The  Lees.      son      of 
"  Lighthorse 

Harry"  Lee,  the  dashing 
cavalryman  of  the  Revo- 
lution, entwining  into  the  story  of  the  estate  another  strand  of  the  best  fabric  of  Vir- 
ginian society.  Arlington  immediately  became  the  home  of  this  officer,  and  wh<  n 
the  Civil  War  came,  and  Colonel  Lee  went  out  of  the  Union  with  his  State,  his  great- 
est personal  sacrifice,  no  doubt,  was  the  thought  of  leaving  Arlington.  Indeed,  so 
little  did  he  foresee  that  he  was  going  to  be  the  leader  of  a  four-years'  struggle,  that  he 
took  away  none  of  the  furniture,  and  very  few  even  of  the  great  number  of  relics  of 
Washington,  many  of  intrinsic  as  well  as  historic  value,  which  the  house  contained. 
Federal  troops  at  once  took  possession  of  the  estate,  and  everything  of  historical  value 
was  seized  by  the  Government,  so  that  most  of  the  collection,  with  other  relics,  is  now 
to  be  seen  at  the  National  Museum.  Arlington  could  not  be  confiscated,  because 
entailed ;  but  the  non-payment  of  taxes  made  a  pretext  for  its  sale,  when  it  was 
bought  in  for  $23,000,  by  the  United  States  Government,  which  established  the 
military  cemetery  here  in  1864.  When,  several  years  after  the  war,  G.  W.  Custis  Lee 
inherited  the  estate,  he  successfully  disputed,  in  the  Supreme  Court,  the  legality  of 
the  tax-sale,  but  at  once  transferred  his  restored  rights  to  the  Government  for 
$150,000,  which  was  paid  him  in  1884. 

The  return  from  Arlington  is  easily  and  pleasantly  made  by  walking  down  to 
one  of  the  gates  and  taking  the  cars  of  the  Washington,  Alexandria  &  Mount  Vcrnon 
Railway  for  Washington,  by  way  of  the  Long  Bridge.  Three  hours  will  suffice  to 
make  this  trip  satisfactorily.  The  grounds  remain  open  until  sunset. 

A  visit  to  Fort  Meyer  may  well  be  combined  with  this  excursion. 

Fort  Meyer  occupies  a  large  area  of  the  old  estate  adjoining  the  cemetery  on  the 
north,  but  separated  from  it  by  a  ravine  up  which  the  tramway  makes  its  way 
from  the  aqueduct  bridge.  This  is  a  cavalry  post  of  the  army,  capable 
Fort  Meyer,  of  accommodating  a  whole  regiment.  The  officers'  quarters  are  on  the 
bluff  overlooking  the  Potomac  and  the  city  ;  behind  them  are  various 
offices,  the  post  hospital,  etc.,  and  farther  back  the  commodious  brick  barracks, 
large  stables,  and  great  drill  shed.  The  evening  parades,  in  fine  weather,  and  the 
weekly  band  concerts  are  picturesque  and  delightful ;  and  it  is  highly  interesting 
to  sit  in  the  public  gallery  of  the  drill  hall  and  watch  the  feats  of  horsemanship  to 
which  the  cavalrymen  are  trained.  The  great  rolling  field,  west  of  the  cemetery 
and  south  of  the  post  parade  ground,  is  devoted  to  troop,  squadron,  and  regimental 


EXCURSIONS  ABOUT  WASHINGTON. 


179 


drilling,  and  is  a  favorite  place  for  polo.     This  fine  military  post  occupies  the  site  of 
Fort.  Whipple,  one  of  the  strongest  defenses  of  Washington  during  the  Civil  War. 

After  the  disaster  at  Bull  Run   a  system  of  defenses   was  projected   and  partly 
completed  to  cover  every   approach  to  the  city.     "Every  prominent  point,"  wrote 
General  Cullom,  "at  intervals  of  800  or  1,000  yards,  was  occupied  by  an 
inclosed  tield-fort;  every  important  approach  or  depression  of  ground,     Defenses  of 
unseen  from  the  forts,  was  swept  by  a  battery  of  field  guns,  and  the    Washington, 
whole  connected  by  ri He-trenches,  which  were,  in  fact,  lines  of  infantry 
parapet,  furnishing  emplacement  for  two  ranks  of  men,  and  affording  covered  com- 
munication along  the  line  ;  while  roads  were  opened  wherever  necessary,  so  that  troops 
and  artillery  could  be  moved  rapidly  from  one  point  of  the  immense  periphery  to 
another,  or  under  cover  from  point  to  point." 

In  this  circle  of  defenses  Fort  Whipple  held  a  very  important  position,  and  was  a 
star-shaped  earthwork,  scientifically  built  and  heavily  armed  and  garrisoned.  It  has 
been  completely  swept  away,  but  south  of  the  drill  plain,  at  the  eastern  corner  of  the 
cemetery,  Fort  Tillinghaet  is  still  standing  and  looks,  at  a  distance,  as  if  time  had 

spared  it  as  complete- 
ly as  did  the  ravages 
of  war.  It  is  well 
worth  a  visit.  The 
ruins  of  Fort  Cass, 
and  other  outworks 
near  by,  are  also 
traceable. 

Foit  Whipple  was 
assigned  to  the  use  of 
the  Signal  Corps  as 
training  school  and 
headquarters,  and 
was  renamed  Meyer 
after  the  death  of  its 
commandant,  the 
Chief  Signal  Officer. 
One  line  of  the 
Washington,  Arling- 
ton &  Falls  Church 
Electric  Railway 
extends  southward 
from  Fort  Meyer 
some  five  miles, 
through  the  subur- 
ban villages  of  Pen- 
rose  and  Columbia  to 
Nauck,  on  the  Round 
Hill  branch  of  the 
Southern  Railway. 

Falls  Church. 

Falls  Church,  Vir- 
ginia, is  the  terminus 


THE  McCLELLAN  GATE. 


180 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE   TO    WASHINGTON. 


of  the  main  line  of  this  road,  some  eight  miles  east  of  Georgetown.  The  road  thither 
passes  through  a  hilly  region,  rapidly  undergoing  suburban  improvement,  and  Falls 
Church  itself  is  a  pleasant  old-time  village,  which  was  the  scene  of  one  of  the  first 
fights  of  the  Civil  War. 

3.  To  the  Soldiers'  Home,  Bock  Creek  Church,  Fort  Stevens, 

Battle  and  National  Cemeteries,  the  Catholic 

University,  and  Brooklaud. 

The  Soldiers'  Home  stands  in  the  midst  of  a  noble  park,  with  a  wide  outlook  from 
high  grounds  directly  north  of  the  Capitol,  from  which  it  is  distant  four  miles  in  a 
straight  line.  It  is  a  favorite  terminus  for  driving  and  bicycling,  beautiful  roads  lead- 
ing thither  from  the  head  of  Connecticut  Avenue  or  Fourteenth  Street,  and  less 
desirable  ones  returning  through  the  northeastern  quarter  of  the  city.  Two  lines  of 

street  cars  approach  the  Soldiers'  Home,  giving  the  tourist  an  alternate 
Route.  route  going  and  coming ;  and  he  should  devote  the  better  part  of  a 

day  to  this  excursion.  The  direct  route  out  is  by  the  cars  north  on 
Seventh  Street,  connecting  with  the  Brightwood  line  from  the  boundary  to  the  Eagle 
or  western  gate  of  the  Soldiers'  Home  grounds.  A  short  distance  beyond  the 

boundary,  at  the  right  of  the  road,  are  seen  the  tall  brick  buildings 
Howard  of  Howard  University  —  a  collegiate  institution  founded  soon  after 

University.  the  war,  as  an  outgrowth  of  the  Freedmen's  Bureau,  for  the  education 

of  colored  youths  of  both  sexes.  Its  first  president  was  Maj.-Gen.  O. 
0.  Howard  (who  had  resigned  from  the  army  temporarily  to  undertake  this  work), 
and  it  has  maintained  itself  as  a  flourishing  institution,  having  some  three  hundred 
students  annually. 


THE    SOLDIERS'  HOME. 


EXCURSIONS   ABOUT    WASHINGTON.  181 

The  new  Distributing  Reservoir,  to  which  the  famous  and  incomplete  "  Lydecker 
Tunnel  "  was  intended  to  carry  water  from  the  Potomac  conduit,  occupies  the  high 
ground  north  of  the  university. 

The  ride  out  to  the  end  of  this  road,  at  the  District  limits,  is  a  very  pleasant  one 
all  the  way ;  and  if  one  is  fond  of  walking,  he  can  do  well  by  going  on  through  the 
suburban  villages  of  Potworth  and  Brightwood  to  Silver  Springs  and 
Takoma  —  the  latter  a  station  on  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad  almost  Country 

at  the  extreme  northern  corner  of  the  District.     It  is  then  a  very  Roads. 

plea?ant  walk  back  to  the  Soldiers'  Home,  along  the  Blair  and  Rock 
Creek  Church  roads,  near  the  railroad,  which  are  bordered  by  luxuriant  hedges  of 
osage  orange.     This  is  a  fair  country  road  for  bicycles.    Extensions  of  electric  lines 
are  progressing,  one  line  now  reaching  to  Forest  Glen,  Maryland. 

Near  Brightwood,  in  plain  view  off  at  the  left  as  you  go  out  upon  the  cars,  are  the 
crumbling  parapets  of  Fort  Stevens,  which  was  one  of  the  agencies  in  protecting  the 
city  against  Confederate  attack  in  1864,  when  fighting  occurred  all  through  these 
woods  and  fields. 

Karly's  Maid,  in  July,  1S64,  was  the  only  serious  war  scare  Washington  had,  but 
it  was  enough.  Panic-stricken  people  from  the  Maryland  villages  came  flocking  in 
along  this  road,  bringing  such  of  their  household  goods  as  they  could 
carry.  For  two  or  three  days  tin-  city  was  cut  off  from  communication  Early's  Raid. 
with  tin-  outside  world,  except  b\  way  of  the  Potomac  River.  The  dis- 
trict militia  was  reinforced  by  every  able-bodied  man  who  could  be  swept  up. 
Department  clerks  were  mustered  into  companies  and  sent  to  the  trenches,  with  any 
odds  and  ends  of  tight  ing  material  t  liat  could  be  gathered.  There  waa  an  immense 
commotion,  but  the  capital  \\as  never  >o  deiiiorali/.ed  as  was  alleged  of  it  at  the 
time.  Within  forty-eight  hours,  from  one  source  and  another,  60,000  men  had 
been  gathered.  Meau\\  hile  the  stubborn  resistance  made  some  miles  up  the  river, by 
(.,ii.  Lew  Wallace,  whose  wide  reputation  as  the  author  of  "  Ben  Hur,y'"The  Fair 
God,"  etc.,  was  still  to  come,  who  delayed  the  invading  host  against  frightful  odds 
until  the  fortifications  were  well  manned,  had  saved  the  city  from  being  sacked  and 
the  President  from  capture.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  Wallace's  prompt  and 
courageous  action  did  this  thing.  Wallace  was  forced  back,  of  course,  but  when 
Early  got  him  out  of  the  way  and  reached  the  defenses  north  of  the  city,  he  found 
the  old  Sixth  Corps  there,  and,  contenting  himself  with  a  brisk  skirmish  in  the  fields 
in  front  of  Fort  Stevens,  he  fled,  carrying  away  the  plunder  of  hundreds  of  desolated 
Maryland  farmhouses.  The  President  was  not  only  intensely  anxious  but  eagerly 
interested.  Noah  Brooks,  in  his  ''Washington  in  Lincoln's  Time,"  says  of  him: 
••  He  went  out  to  Fort  Stevens  during  the  skirmish  ...  on  July  12,  and  repeat- 
edly exposed  himself  in  the  coolest  manner  to  the  fire  of  the  rebel  sharpshooters. 
He  had  once  said  to  me  that  he  lacked  physical  courage,  although  he  had  a  fair 
share  of  the  moral  quality  of  that  virtue  ;  but  his  calm  unconsciousness  of  danger, 
while  the  bullets  were  flying  thick  and  fast  about  him,  was  ample  proof  that  he 
would  not  have  dropped  his  musket  and  run,  as  he  believed  he  cer- 
tainly would,  at  the  first  sign  of  physical  danger."  Battle 

Those  killed  in  this  affair  were  buried  in  the  little  cemetery  by  Cemetery. 
the  Methodist  Church,  now  called  Battle  Cemetery. 

The  Soldiers'  Home  is  the  forerunner  and  type  of  those  which  were  erected  in 
various  parts  of  the  country  after  the  Civil  War,  but  it  is  not  in  the  same  class.  It  is 
an  institution  established  in  1851  by  the  efforts  of  Gen.  Winfield  Scott,  and  out  of  cer- 
tain funds  received  from  Mexico,  as  a  retreat  for  veterans  of  the  Mexican  War,  and 
for  men  of  the  regular  army  who  have  been  disabled  or  who,  by  twenty  years  of 


182 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 


History  of 

Soldiers' 

Home. 


honorable  service  and  a  payment  of  12  cents  a  month,  have  acquired  the  right  of 
residence  there  the  remainder  of  their  lives.  This  gives  the  veterans  a  pleasing  sense 
of  self-support,  in  addition  to  which  many  are  able  to  earn  money  by  working  about 
the  buildings  and  grounds  and  in  various  ways.  There  arc  ordinarily 
about  five  hundred  men  there,  who  live  under  a  mild  form  of  military 
discipline  and  routine,  wear  the  uniform  of  the  army,  and  are  governed 
by  veteran  officers.  The  affairs  of  the  Home,  which  has  now  a  fund  of 
over  $1,000,000  and  a  considerable  independent  income,  are  adminis- 
tered by  a  board  composed  of  the  general  of  the  army  and  his  principal  assistants  at 
the  War  Department. 

"  The  main  building  is  of  white  marble,  three  stories  in  height,  and  is  fashioned 
after  the  Norman  order  of  architecture.  On  the  grounds  are  several  elegant  marble 
cottages  occupied  by  the  officials,  a  pretty  church  of  Seneca  stone,  a  capacious  hospi- 
tal building  with  wide  piazzas,  from  which  charming  views  of  Washington  and  the 
Potomac  can  be  had,  a  fine  library  building,  well  stocked  with  books  and  periodicals, 
and  numerous  other  structures.  On  the  brow  of  one  of  the  hills  stands  a  bronze 
statue  of  General  Scott,  by  Launt  Thompson,  erected  by  the  Home  in  1874,  at  a  cost 
of  $18,000.  The  entire  estate  is  inclosed 
by  a  stone  wall,  surmounted  by  a  small 
iron  fence  of  handsome  design.  Fifty 
acres  are  under  cultivation,  and  tine 
crops  of  fruits  and  vegetables  are 
raised. 

"Near  the  main  building  is  a  large 
cottage  often  used  by  the  Presidents  of 
the  United  States  as  a  summer  residence. 
It  is  surrounded  by  noble  trees,  and  has 
a  very  attractive  appearance.  Pierce  was 
the  first  President  to  pass  the  summer 
here,  and  Buchanan,  Lincoln,  Johnson, 
Hayes,  and  Arthur  have  preferred  its 
quiet  comfort  to  the  statelier  life  in  the 
White  House." 

In  the  rear  of  the  Home,  on  the 
wooded  slope  beyond  Hare  wood  Road, 
lies  one  of  the  national  military  ceme- 
teries, entered  by  an  arch  upon  whose 
pillars  are  inscribed  the 
Cemetery.  names  of  great  Union 
commanders  in  the  Civil 
War.  Here  rest  the  remains  of  about 
5,500  Federal  and  271  Confederate  sol- 
diers, less  than  300  of  whom  are  un- 
known. The  grounds  contain  a  pretty 
stone  chapel,  in  which  lies  the  body  of 
Gen.  John  A.  Logan. 

Rock  Creek  Church  and  its  beautiful 
cemetery,  northeast  of  the  Soldiers' 
Home,  and  separated  from  it  by  the  fine 
Rock  Creek  Church  Road,  are  worth  STATUE  OF  GENERAL  WINFIELD  SCOTT. 

examination.  Soldiers'  Home.     By  Launt  Thompson. 


• 


EXCURSIONS   ABOUT  WASHINGTON. 


183 


MEMORY."— By  Partridge.     Rock  Creek  Cemetery. 


This  is  the  oldest  house  of  worship 
in  the  District  of  Columbia,  or  near  it, 
and  was  erected  in  1719,  by  the  planters 
of  the  neighborhood,  of  bricks  imported 
from  England  as  ballast  in  empty  tobacco 
ships.  It  was  remodeled,  however,  in 
1868,  and  now  appears  as  a  small  steeple- 
less  structure  nearly  hidden  among  great 
trees  and  surrounded  by  ancient  graves 
and  vaults,  whose  tablets  bear  the  names 
of  the  foremost  of  the  old  Maryland 
fa  1 1 1  i  1  i es  and  earl y  Washi ngtonians.  The 
oldest  graves  are  nearest  the  church;  and 
one  headstone  is  pitted  with  marks  of 
minie  balls,  showing  that  some  soldiers 
have  used  it  as  a  convenient  target. 
The  cemetery  is  still  used,  and  contains 
two  splendid  bronze  mortuary  statues, 
one  of  which,  by  St.  Gaudens,  at  the 
grave  of  Mrs.  Adams,  is 
that  mysterious  veiled  Memorial 
sitting  figure  entitled,  Statues. 

"Peace  of  God,"  which 
is    famous  throughout   the   art  world. 


The  monument  above  the  grave  <>f  IVter  Force  is  also  of  much  interest.  In  Mrs. 
Lorkwood's  "  Historic  Homes"  will  In-  found  a  long  incidental  account  of  the  history 
of  this  sacred  spot  ami  tin-  relics  Mill  used  in  the  service  of  the  old  church. 

A  delightful  homeward  way  is  to  walk 
across,  a  mile  or  so,  through  the  paths 
of  the  Soldiers'  Home  park  to  tin-  termi- 
nus of  the  Eckington  electric  railroad; 
hut  many  will  be  interested,  instead, 
to  go  around  the  .Military  Cemetery,  and 
up  the  hill  to  the  right,  where,  in  the 
woods,  may  still  be  seen  the  star-shaped 
einha-nkiuents  of  Fort  Totten,  with 
numerous  riile-pits  ami  outworks.  This 
is  one  of  the  best  preserved  and  most 
a- ••  edible  of  the  old  forts,  and  its  parapets 
command  a  wide  and  lu-autiful  landscape. 
From  Fort  Totten  the  Hare  wood  Road 
may  easily  be  reached  and  followed 
s  rath  ward  along  the  eastern  side  of  the 
park  until  it  emerges  upon  the  campus 
of  the  Catholic  University. 

This  is  the  national  institution  of 
higher  learning  established  by  all  the 
Catholic  bishops  of  the  United  States  in 
the  Third  Plenary  Council  of  Baltimore, 
and  is  regarded  by  Pope  Leo  XIII  as  one  "GRIEF."  — By  Augustus  St.  Gaudens, 

Of   the    Chief    honors    Of   his    pontificate.  Rock  Creek  Cemetery. 


184 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO    WASHINGTON. 


The  grounds  comprise  seventy  acres,  and  the  visitor  is  at  once  struck  by  the  stately 
appearance    of  the   structures    already  erected.     Divinity    Hall   was 
Catholic  erected    in    1889.      It  is  a  solid    stone  structure  of  266    feet    front 

University.  and  five  stories  in  height ;  the  lower  floor  is  given  up  to  classrooms, 
museums,  and  the  library;  the  upper  floors  are  occupied  with  the  lodg- 
ings of  the  professors  and  students  of  the  department  of  divinity ;  the  top  story  is  a 
well-equipped  gymnasium.  The  Divinity  Chap*  1  is  admired  by  all  visitors.  The  build- 
ing to  the  right  is  known  as  the  McMahon  Hall  of  Philosophy,  and  was  dedicated  in 
1895.  It  is  built  of  granite  throughout,  is  250  feet  front,  and  five  stories  high.  It 
consists  entirely  of  lecture-rooms,  classrooms,  laboratories,  and  museums.  It  accom- 
modates two  great  schools  or  faculties,  each  comprising  several  departments  of  study. 
The  School  of  Philosophy  comprises  departments  of  philosophy  proper,  letters, 
mathematics,  physics,  chemistry,  biology,  and  has  attached  to  it  a  department  of 
technology  giving  full  instruction  in  civil,  mechanical,  and  electrical  engineering.  The 
School  of  the  Social  Sciences  comprises 
departments  of  ethics  and  sociology, 
economics,  political  science,  and  law. 
The  former  faculty  leads  up  to  the 
degree  of  Ph.  D.,  the  latter  to  all  degrees 
in  law.  Immediately  adjoining  the 
university  are  three  affiliated  colleges, 
called  St.  Thomas'  College,  the  Marist 
College,  and  the  Holy  Cross  College. 
Each  of  these  contains  from  fifteen  to 
twenty  students  of  philosophy  and  the- 
ology, and  their  professors.  They  attend 
courses  in  the  university.  The  divinity 
courses  are  attended  only  by  ecclesias- 
tics of  the  Catholic  Church.  To  the 
legal,  philosophical,  and  scientific 
courses  lay  students  are  admitted,  with- 
out regard  to  their  religious  creed. 

The  old  country  village  and  present 
suburb  of  Brookland  lies  just  beyond, 
and  farther  on  are  Hyattsville  and  other 
suburban  residence  centers,  reached  by 
the  Eckington  line  of  electric  railway, 
which  extends  northeast  as  far  as  Ber- 


JOHN  HOWARD  PAYNE  MONUMENT. 
Oak   Hill    Cemetery. 


wyn,   Maryland.     The  time  of  return- 
ing   from    the    University    and    Soldiers'    Home    Station     by    this 
Suburban          line  is  about  twenty-five  minutes.    Just  south  of  the  station,  west 
Towns.  of  the  suburban  district  of  Edgewood,  through  which  the  line  passes, 

are  the  Glen  wood,  Prospect  Hill,  and  St.  Mary's  (Roman  Catholic) 
cemeteries,  which  contain  the  graves  of  many  famous  persons  and  some  tall  monu- 
ments. Nearer  the  city  line  is  the  fine  suburb,  Eckington,  in  the  midst  of  which, 
upon  a  beautifully  wooded  hill,  is  the  Colonial  building  of  the  Eckington  Hotel,  open 
in  summer.  This  line  enters  the  city  along  New  York  Avenue,  and  terminates  at 
the  Treasury. 


EXCURSIONS   ABOUT   WASHINGTON.  185 

4.  To  the  "Zoo,"  Rock  Creek  National  Park,  and  Chevy  Chase. 

This  is  an  excursion  into  the  northern  and  most  beautiful  corner  of  the  District, 
reached  by  taking  the  cars  out  Fourteenth  Street  to  the  boundary,  and  then  (by 
transfer)  the  Chevy  Chase  line.     The  latter  extends  from  Sixth  Street 
(connecting  with  the  Seventh  Street  line)  along  U  Street  West,  through  Routes. 

Hancock  Circle   (where   New  Hampshire  Avenue    crosses    Sixteenth 
Street),  and  thence  turns  up  the  hill  at  Eighteenth  Street,  and  goes  across  Rock  Creek, 
and  out  into  the  country,  along  Connecticut  Avenue  Extended,  passing  on  its  way 
half  way  around  the  Zoological  Park. 

A  zoological  garden  is  among  the  most  recent  additions  to  the  sights  of  the  capital. 
It  is  open  all  day,  including  Sunday,  and  no  admittance  fee  is  charged. 

Previous  to  its  organization  a  ad  the  purchase  of  this  site  of  about  167  acres,  in 
1890,  the  National  Museum  had  accumulated  by  gift  many  live  animals,  but  had  no 
means  of  caring  for  them  ;  these  at  once  became  the  nucleus  of  the 
new  collection,   which  was  placed   under  the  general  charge  of  the       Zoological 
Smithsonian  Institution,  with  Frank  Baker,  M.D.,  as  superintendent.  Park. 

Two  definite  objects  have  been  in  view  here.  The  original  idea  was 
not  a  park  for  public  exhibition  purposes  —  a  popular  "  Zoo  " — but  a  reservation  in 
which  there  might  be  bred  and  maintained  representatives  of  many  American  jmi- 
mals  threatened  with  extinction.  Congress,  however,  enlarged  and  modified  this 
notion  by  adding  the  exhibition  features,  making  the  place  a  pleasure-ground  as  well 
as  an  experiment  station,  and  consequently  imposing  upon  the  District  of  Columbia 
one-half  the  cost  of  its  purchase  and  maintenance.  Nevertheless,  the  managers  do 
all  they  can  to  carry  out  the  original,  more  scientific  intention. 

A  walk  of  five  minutes  from  the  cars  at  the  gate  brings  the  visitor  to  the  principal 
Animal  House,  which  is  a  commodious  stone  building,  well  lighted  and  well  venti- 
lated, and  having  on  its  southern  side  an  annex  of  very  line  outdoor  cages,  where 
the  great  carnivoni  and  other  beasts  dwell  in  warm  weather.  The  collection  is  not 
very  large,  as  the  funds  do  not  at  present  allow  of  tin-  purchase  of  animals,  which 
must  he  obtained  by  gift  or  exchange.  Captures  in  the  Yellowstone  National  Park 
are  permitted  for  the  benefit  of  this  garden,  and  have  supplied  many  specimens. 

The  hardier  animals  (except  a  few  antelopes  and  kangaroos,  which  have  a  stable) 
are  quartered  out  of  doors  all  the  year  round  in  wire  enclosures  scattered  about  the 
grounds.  These  are  all  healthy  and  happy  to  a  gratifying  degree,  and 
as  a  result  they  produce  young  freely.  The  herds  of  bison,  elk,  and  Animals. 
deer  were  recruited  mainly  from  the  Yellowstone  Park.  The  former 
occupy  adjacent  paddocks  upon  the  rising  ground  north  of  the  animal  house,  and  the 
latter  enjoy  extensive  pastures  and  a  picturesque  thatched  stable  somewhat  to  the 
east,  on  a  hillside  sloping  down  to  Rock  Creek.  In  another  quarter  are  to  be  seen 
the  cages  of  the  wolves,  foxes,  and  dogs.  The  beavers,  however,  probably  constitute 
the  most  singular  and  interesting  of  all  the  features  of  the  garden  at  present.  They 
consist  of  a  colony  in  the  wooded  ravine  of  a  little  branch  of  Rock  Creek,  where  they 
cut  down  trees,  burrow  in  the  banks  of  the  stream,  and  construct  dams  and  houses, 
precisely  as  in  a  state  of  nature.  The  Bear  Dens  are  the  best  of  their  kind  in  the 
country,  being  rude  caves  blasted  out  of  the  cliff  left  by  an  abandoned  quarry,  which 
form  natural  retreats  for  their  big  tenants. 

An  alternative  way  out  of  the  garden  is  to  climb  the  rustic  stairway  near  the  Bear 
Dens,  and  walk  a  few  rods  to  the  street-car  station  at  the  Rock  Creek  bridge. 

Chevy  Chase  is  a  charming  suburb,  just  beyond  the  District  line,  at  the  extremity 
of  Connecticut  Avenue  Extended,  which  is  cut  straight  across  the  broken  and 


186  PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 

picturesque  region  west  of  Rock  Creek.    The  forested  gorge  of  this  romantic  stream, 
east  of  the  avenue,  and  embracing  most  of  the  region  between  it  and 
Chevy  Chase,   the  proposed  extension  of  Sixteenth  Street,  or  "  Executive  Avenue," 
has  been  acquired  and  reserved  by  the  Government  as  a  public  park  ; 
but  as  yet  no  improvements  have  been  attempted,  and  it  remains  a  wild  rambling- 
ground  full  of  grand  possibilities  for  the  landscape  artist. 

Chevy  Chase  consists  of  a  group  of  handsome  country  villas,  among  which  an  old 
mansion  has  been  converted  into  a  "  country-club,"  with  tennis  courts,  golf  links,  etc. 
attached,  and  here  the  young  people  of  the  fashionable  set  meet  for  outdoor  amuse- 
ments, in  which  fox-hunting  with  hounds,  after  the  British  fashion,  is  prominent.  A 
large  hotel  was  started  here,  but  the  building  is  now  occupied  as  a  school.  An  addi- 
tional fare  is  charged  for  travel  beyond  the  circle  at  the  District  line,  and  there  is  little 
to  attract  the  traveler  farther  northward.  Instead  of  turning  back,  however,  it  is  a 
good  plan  to  walk  southwestward  eight  or  ten  minutes,  passing  old  Fort  Reno,  and 
striking  the  Tenallytown  electric  road  at  the  Glen  Echo  Junction,  where  he  can  return 
direct  to  Georgetown,  or  can  go  on  to  Glen  Echo,  and  then  up  to  Cabin  John  Bridge 
or  Great  Falls,  or  out  to  Rockville,  or  back  to  Georgetown  by  the  electric  line  along 
the  bank  of  the  Potomac. 

5.  Georgetown  and  Its  Vicinity. 

Georgetown,  now  West  Washington,  was  a  flourishing  village  and  seaport  (the  river 
channel  having  been  deeper  previous  to  the  construction  of  bridges)  before  there  wai  a 

thought  of  placing  the  capital  here ;  and  in  its  hospitable  houses  the 
History.  early  officials  found  pleasanter  homes  than  the  embryo  Federal  city 

then  afforded.  Its  narrow,  well-shaded,  hilly  streets  are  yet  quaint 
with  reminders  of  those  days,  and  it  has  residents  who  still  consider  their  circle  of 
families  the  only  persons  "true  blue."  Georgetown  is  still  a  port  of  entry,  but  its 
business  does  little  more  than  pay  the  expenses  of  the  office. 

Before  the  era  of  railroads  Georgetown  had  distinct  importance,  due  to  the  fact 
that  it  was  the  tidewater  terminus  of  the  Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Canal,  which  was 
finished  up  the  river  as  far  as  the  Great  Falls  in  1784,  and  in  1828  was  carried 
through  to  Cumberland,  Maryland,  at  a  cost  of  $13,000,000.  It  never  realized  the 
vast  expectations  of  its  promoters,  but  was  of  great  service  to  Georgetown,  and  is  still 
used  for  the  transport  of  coal,  grain,  and  other  slow  freights. 

Pennsylvania  Avenue  forms  the  highway  toward  Georgetown,  but  stops  at  Rock 
Creek.  The  cars  turn  off  to  K  Street,  cross  the  deep  ravine  over  a  bridge  borne  upon 

the  arched  water-mains,  and  then  run  east  to  the  end  of  the  street  at 
Union  the  Aqueduct  Bridge.  Here  a  three-story  union  railway  station  has 

Station.  been  built ;  into  its  lowest  level  come  the  cars  of  the  Pennsylvania 

Avenue  line,  and  the  top  story  forms  the  terminus  of  the  electric  rail- 
way to  the  Great  Falls.  Stairways  and  elevators  connect  the  three  floors,  and  reach 
to  Prospect  Avenue  above. 

Georgetown  does  not  contain  much  to  attract  the  hasty  sight-seer,  though 
much  for  the  meditative  historian.  A  large  sign,  painted  upon  a  brick  house  near 

the  Aqueduct  Bridge,  informs  him  that  that  is  the  Key  Mansion  — 
Key  House,  the  home  for  several  years  of  Francis  Scott  Key,  the  author  of  "The 

Star-Spangled  Banner,"  who  resided  here  after  the  War  of  1812, 
became  district-attorney,  and  died  in  1843.  Similar  personal  memoranda  belong 
to  several  other  old  houses  here.  On  Analostan,  for  example  —  the  low,  forested 
island  below  the  farther  end  of  Aqueduct  Bridge  —  lived  the  aristocratic  Masons 
during  the  early  years  of  the  Republic,  cultivating  a  model  farm  and  enter- 


EXCURSIONS   ABOUT   WASHINGTON.  187 

taining  royally.  One  of  the  latest  of  them  was  John  M.  Mason,  author  of  the 
Fugitive  Slave  Law,  and  an  associate  of  Mr.  Slidell  in  the  Confederate  mission  to 
England,  which  was  interrupted  by  Wilkes  in  the  Trent  affair.  The  most  prominent 
institution  in  this  locality,  however,  is  Georgetown  College.  This  is 
the  School  of  Arts  and  Sciences  of  Georgetown  University,  which  is  Georgetown 
under  the  direction  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  This  school,  College. 

consisting  of  three  departments  —  postgraduate,  collegiate,  and  prepara- 
tory—  is  the  oldest  Catholic  institution  of  higher  learning  in  the  United  States,  hav- 
ing been  founded  -in  1789.  The  college  was  chartered  as  a  university  by  act  of 
Congress  in  1815,  and  in  1833  was  empowered  by  the  Holy  See  to  grant  degrees  in 
philosophy  and  theology.  The  present  main  building,  begun  in  1878,  is  an  excellent 
specimen  of  Rhenish-Romanesque  architecture,  and  its  grounds  cover  seventy-eight 
acres,  including  the  beautiful  woodland  "  walks  "  and  a  magnificent  campus.  The 
Riggs  Library,  of  over  70,000  volumes,  contains  rare  and  curious  works.  The  Cole- 
man  Museum  has  many  fine  exhibits,  among  them  interesting  Colonial  relics  and 
valuable  collections  of  coins  and  medals.  Not  far  from  the  college,  on  a  prominent 
hill,  is  the  Astronomical  Observatory,  where  many  original  investigations  are  made 
as  well  as  class  instruction  given.  Thirty-nine  members  of  the  faculty  and  300 
students  comprise  the  present  census  of  this  school. 

The  School  of  Law,  situated  in  the  vicinity  of  the  District  courts,  is  one  of  the  best 
in  America,  numbering  on  its  staff  several  leading  jurists ;  the  faculty  now  numbers 
fifteen,  the  students  over  300.  The  School  of  Medicine  is  fully  equipped  for  thorough 
medical  training  under  distinguished  specialists  ;  the  faculty  numbers  forty-nine,  the 
students,  125.  The  total  number  of  students  in  the  university  is  about  750. 

Oak  Hill  Cemetery,  on  the  southern  b  ink  of  Rock  Creek  near  P  Street,  is  a  beautiful 
burying  ground  rising  in  terraces  ami  containing  the  graves  of  many  dis- 
tinguished men  and  w«  mini.    It  is  reached  by  the  line  of  the  Metropolitan         Oak  Hill, 
street  cars,  more  commonly  called  the  F  Street  line  ;  leaving  the  cars 
at  Thirtieth  Street,  a  walk  of  two  squares  north  will  bring  the  visitor  to  the  entrance. 

"Near  the  gateway  is  the  chapel  built  in  the  style  of  architecture  of  Henry  VIII. 
This  is  matted  by  ivy  brought  from  'Melrose  Abbey.'  In  front  of  the  chapel  is  the 
monument  of  John  Howard  Payne,  the  author  of  'Home,  Sweet  Home, '  who  had 
been  buried  in  1852  in  the  cemetery  near  Tunis,  Africa,  and  there  remained  until,  at 
the  expense  of  Mr.  Corcoran,  his  hones  were  brought  to  this  spot,  and  in  '83  were  re- 
interred  with  appropriate  ceremonies.  The  statue  of  William  Pinkney  is  near  here 
also  (he  was  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Bishop  of  Maryland,  and  nephew  of  William 
Pinkney,  the  great  Maryland  lawyer).  It  represents  that  prelate  in  full  canonical 
robes,  and  was  dedicated  to  his  memory  by  Mr.  Corcoran,  who  was  the  friend  of  his 
youth,  the  comfort  of  his  declining  years.  The  mausoleum  of  Mr.  Corcoran  for  his 
family  is  a  beautiful  specimen  of  mortuary  architecture ;  this  is  in  the  northwestern 
section  of  the  cemetery,  while  in  the  southeastern  is  the  mausoleum  of  the  Van  Ness 
family,  whose  leader  married  the  heiress,  Marcia,  daughter  of  David  Burns,  one  of  the 
original  proprietors  of  the  site  of  Washington  City.  This  tomb  is  a  model  of  the 
Temple  of  the  Vesta  at  Rome.  The  cemetery  comprises  twenty-five  acres,  incorpo- 
rated in  1849,  one-half  of  which,  and  an  endowment  of  $90,000,  were  the  donation  of 
Mr.  William  \Y.  Corcoran.  Here  were  buried  Chief  Justice  Chase,  Secretary  of  War 
Stan  ton,  the  great  Professor  Joseph  Henry,  and  many  others  illustrious  in  American 
annals."  Extremely  pleasant  rambles  may  be  taken  to  the  north  and  east  of  this  ceme- 
tery, and  it  is  not  far  across  the  hills  to  the  Naval  Observatory.  This  is  the  astronom- 
ical station  of  the  Government  under  control  of  the  navy  and  presided  over  by  an 
officer  of  high  rank,  whose  first,  object  is  the  gathering  and  collection  of  information 


188 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON. 


ilflinHj 


U.  S.  NAVAL  OBSERVATORY.  — Extension  of  Massachusetts  Avenue. 

of  use  to  mariners,  such  as  precision  of  knowledge  of  latitude  and  longitude,  varia- 
tion of  the  compass,  accuracy  of  chronometers  and  other  instruments 
U,  S.  used  in  the  navigation  of  ships  of  war,  and  similar  information  more 

Observatory,  or  less  allied  to  astronomy.  Purely  scientific  astronomical  work  is 
also  carried  on,  and  the  equipment  of  telescopes  and  other  instruments 
is  complete,  enabling  the  staff  of  learned  men  —  naval  and  civilian  —  attached  to  the 
institution  to  accomplish  notable  results  in  the  advancement  of  that  department  of 
knowledge.  The  special  inquirer  will  be  welcomed  by  the  officers  at  all  suitable 
hours,  and  on  Thursday  nights  cards  of  invitation  admit  visitors  generally  to  look 
through  the  great  telescope. 

This  observatory  dates  fr  m  1892,  when  it  was  moved  from  the  wooded  elevation, 
called  Braddock's  Hill,  at  the  Potomac  end  of  New  York  Avenue,  which  it  had  occu- 
pied for  nearly  a  century.  That  ground  was  a  reservation  originally  set  apart  at  the 
instance  of  Washington,  who  wished  to  see  planted  there  the  foundations  of  the 
National  University  —  the  dream  of  his  last  years.  It  is  called  University  Square  to 

this  day. 

6.  Georgetown  to  Tennallytowii  and  Glen  Echo. 

From  Georgetown  an  electric  road  runs  north  out  High  Street  and  the  Tennallytown 
Road  to  the  District  line,  where  it  branches  into  two  lines.  Leaving  the  city  quickly 
it  makes  its  way  through  a  pretty  suburban  district,  out  into  a  region  of  irregular 
hills  and  dales,  where,  about  one  mile  from  the  starting  point,  the  new  United  States 
Naval  Observatory  is  seen  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  the  right.  Just  beyond  its 
entrance  is  an  industrial  school.  The  general  district  at  the  left  is  Wesley  Heights, 
ninety  acres  of  which,  and  the  name,  are  the  property  of  a  Methodist  association, 
which  proposes  to  establish  there  a  highly  equipped  university,  to  be  called  the 

American,  modeled  upon  the  plan  of  German  universities,  and  open 
Woodley  to  both  sexes.  The  site  of  the  buildings  will  be  west  of  Massachusetts 

Heights.  Avenue,  where  it  intersects  Forty-fourth  Street,  forming  University 

Circle.  Work  is  beginning  on  the  buildings,  and  the  endowment  is 
growing.  The  district  west  of  the  road  is  Woodley  Heights,  Woodley  adjoining  it 


EXCURSIONS    ABOTT    WASH  I  NGTON.  189 

further  east  along  the  valley  of  Rock  Creek.     Tunlaw  Heights  is  another  local 
"subdivision"  here;  and  somewhat  farther  on  is  Oak  View,  where  there  is  a  lofty 
observatory,  open  to  anyone  who  cares  to  climb  it  and  obtain  the  wider  outl<  ok, 
embracing  a  large  part  of  the  city.    A  few  yearn  ago  there  was  a  great  "boom"  in 
suburban  villa  sites  near  here,  and  many  noted  persons  built  the  fine  houses  which 
are  scattered  over  the  ridges  in  all  directions.     Among  them  was  Presi- 
dent Cleveland,  whose  house,  "  Red  Top  "  (from  the  color  of  the  roof),  "  Red  Top." 
is  passed  by  the  cars  just  beyond  Oak  View.     It  was  afterward  sold  by 
the  President  to  great  advantage,  and  during  his  second  term  he  occupied  another 
summer  home  not  far  to  the  eastward  of  this  site.     The  cross-road  here  runs  straight 
to  the  Zoological  Park,  a  trine  over  a  mile  eastward.     Woodley  Inn  is  a  summer  hotel 
on  the  left  of  the  road,  which  keeps  northward  along  a  ridge  with  wide        Tennallv 
views,fora  mile  and  a  quarter  farther  to  Tennallytown,  lately  becomea 
suburb  of  considerable  population,  largely  increased  by  families  from 
the  city  in  summer.    A  road  to  the  left  (west)  from  here  gives  a  very  picturesque  walk 
of  a  mile  and  a  half  over  t<>  the  Receiving  Reservoir,  and  a  mile  farther  will  take  you 
to  Little  Falls,  or  the  Chain  Bridge.    Up  at  the  right,  at  the  highest  point  of  land  in 
the  district  (400  feet),  the  new  reservoir  is  seen,  occupying  the  site  of  Fort  Reno, 
one  of  tin-  most  important  of  the  circle  of  forts  about  the  capital  during  the  Civil  War. 
A  wooded  knoll,  some  distance  to  the  left,  shows  the  crumbling  earthworks  of  a  lesser 
redoubt  near  the  river  road,  which  branches  off  northwest  from  the  village.    Three- 
quarters   of  a   mile   beyond   Tenallvtown   the  limit  of  the  District  of  Columbia  is 
n-ached,  and  the  Junction  <.f  the  line  to  Glen  Echo.    The  main  line  runs  north  to 
Rockville,  Maryland. 

The  Glen  Echo  line  runs  a  car  every  half-hour  (fare  5  cents)  along  a  winding 
road  through  the  woods  to  the  Conduit  Road  and  bank  of  the  Potomac,  at  the  Glen 
Echo  grounds. 

7.  Georgetown  to  Glen  Echo,  Cabin  John,  and  Great  Falls. 

The  Georgetown  and  Great  Falls  Railroad  Company  operates  an  electric  line  to 
the  Great  Falls  of  the  Potomac,  which  affords  one  of  the  most  delightful  excursions 
out  of  Washington.  Its  large  cars  leave  the  Union  Station,  in  Georgetown,  and  take 
a  high  course  overlooking  the  river  valley,  which  becomes  much  narrower  and 
more  gorge-like  above  the  city,  with  the  Virginia  banks  very  steep,  rocky,  and  broken 
by  quarries.  The  rails  are  laid  through  the  woods,  and  gradually  descend  to  the 
bank  of  the  canal  which  skirts  the  foot  of  the  bluff.  About  three 
miles  above  Georgetown  is  the  Chain  Bridge,  so  called  because  the  Chain 

earliest  bridge  here,  where  the  river  for  some  two  miles  is  confined  Bridge. 

within  a  narrow,  swift,  and  deep  channel  on  the  Virginia  side,  was 
made  of  suspended  chains.    The  lofty  bank  is  broken  here  by  the  ravine  of  Pimmit 
Run,  making  a  convenient  place  for  several  roads  to  meet  and  cross  the  river.     The 
bluffs  above  it  were  crowned  with  strong  forls,  for  this  was  one  of  the  principal 
approaches  to  Washington.    A  mile  and  a  half  above  the  Chain  Bridge,  having  run 
through  the  picturesque  woods  behind  High,  or  Sycamore,  Island,  owned  by  a 
sportsmen's  club,  you  emerge  to  find  the  river  a  third  of  a  mile  wide  again,  and 
dashing  over  black  rocks  and  ledges  in  the  series  of  rapids  called  the 
Little  Falls  of  the  Potomac.    The  wild  beauty  of  the  locality  makes  it    Little  Falls, 
a  favorite  one  for  picnicking  parties,  and  bass  fishing  is  always  excel- 
lent.   The  Maryland  bank  becomes  higher  and  more  rugged  above  Little  Falls,  and 
takes  the  name  of  Glen  Echo  Heights.     (Also  reached  by  cars  from  Georgetown  via 
Glen  Echo  Junction.) 


190 


PICTOEIAL   GUIDE  TO    WASHINGTON. 


THE   CABIN  JOHN  BRIDGE.  —  Length  of  Sp 


;t;   Height,  57  Feet. 


Glen  Echo  is  a  place  where  it  was  proposed  to  combine  educational  privileges 
with    recreation,  and  form  a  suburban  residence   colony  and  day  resort  of  high 
character.    Extensive  buildings  of  stone  and  wood,  including  a  very 
Glen  Echo.       spacious  amphitheater,  were  erected  in  the  grove  upon  the  steep  bank 
and  commanded  a  most  attractive  river  view  ;  in  them  courses  of  valu- 
able lectures,  Sunday  services,  and  concerts  of  a  high  order  were  given,  and  many 
means  of  rational  enjoyment  were  provided,  but  the  project  failed. 

The  river  has  pretty  banks  to  Cabin  John  Run,  where  the  fine  arch  of  the  cele- 
brated bridge  gleams  through  the  trees.    The  remainder  of  the  run 
Cabin  John      (five  miles)  is  through  a  wild,  wooded  region  at  the  edge  of  the  canal 
Bridge.  and  river,  which  is  again  narrow,  deep,  and  broken  by  islands  flooded 

at  high  water,  with  high,  ravine-cut  banks.  This  is  a  favorite  place 
with  Washingtonians  for  fishing  with  rod  and  fly,  from  the  banks ;  Daniel  Webster 
often  came  here  for  this  purpose. 

The  Great  Falls  of  the  Potomac  are  a  series  of  bold  cascades  forming  a  drop  of 
eighty  feet  within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  distance,  very  pretty  but  hardly  deserving 
the  panegyrics  bestowed  by  some  early  wrriters.  The  place  will  always 
Great  Falls,  be  exceedingly  attractive,  however,  especially  to  artists  and  anglers.  The 
appearance  of  the  falls  has  been  considerably  modified,  and  probably 
enhanced,  by  the  structures  of  the  City  Water-works,  for  this  is  the  source  of  Wash- 
ington's public  water  supply.  The  water  is  conveyed  to  the  city  through  a  brick  con- 
duit, which  runs  along  the  top  of  the  Maryland  bank,  and  is  overlaid  by  the  macadam- 
ized driveway  called  the  Conduit  Road.  This  work  of  engineering  meets  its  iirst 
serious  difficulty  at  Cabin  John  Run,  where  a  stone  arch  leaps  across  the  ravine  in  a 
single  span  —  unequaled  elsewhere  —  of  220  feet. 


EXCURSIONS   ABOTT    WASHINGTON.  191 

8.  To  Blaclensbnrg  and  Kendall  Green. 

Bladensburg  is  a  quiet  Maryland  village,  some  seven  miles  northeast,  on  the  Balti- 
more &  Ohio  Railroad.    It  is  a  port  on  the  Anacostia,  to  which  large  boats  formerly 
ascended  with  goods  and  went  back  laden  with  farm  produce.  Through 
it  ran  the  stage  road  from  the  north  ;  and  here,  August  24,  1814,  the         Bladcns- 
feeble  American  army  met  the  British,  under  Ross  and  Cockburn,  who  burg. 

had  marched  over  from  their  landing-place  on  the  Patuxent  River, 
intent  upon  the  capture  of  the  Yankee  capital.     The  Americans,  partly  by  blundering 
and  partly  by  panic  (except  some  sailors  under  Commodore  Barney),  ran  away  after 
the  first  attack,  and  left  the  way  open  for  the  redcoats  to  take  and  burn  the  town  an 
they  pleased;  but  they  inflicted  a  remarkably  heavy  loss  upon  the  invaders. 

"It  is  a  favorite  drive  with  Washingtonians  to-day,"  remarks  Mr.  Todd,  in  his 
Story  of  Washington,  "  over  the  smooth  Bladensburg  pike  to  the  quaint  old  village. 
Dipping  into  the  ravine  where  Barney  made  his  stand,  you  have  on  the 
right  the  famous  dueling  ground,  enriched  with  some  of  the  noblest  Battlefield. 
blood  of  the  Union.  A  mile  farther  on,  you  come  out  upon  the  banks 
of  the  Eastern  Branch,  here  an  inconsiderable  mill  stream,  easily  forded,  though 
spanned  by  a  bridge  some  thirty  yards  in  length.  On  the  opposite  shore  gleam 
through  the  trees  the  houses  of  Bladensburg,  very  little  changed  since  the  battle-day. 
Some  seventy  yards  before  reaching  the  bridge,  the  Washington  pike  is  joined  by  the 
old  Georgetown  post-road,  which  comes  down  from  the  north  to  meet  it  at  an  angle 
of  forty-five  degrees.  The  gradually  rising  triangular  field  between  these  two  roads, 
its  heights  now  crowned  by  a  clubhouse  of  modern  design,  was  the  battle  ground." 

A  string  of  pleasant  suburban  villages  nearly  join  one  another  along  the  railway 
and  turnpike  —  Highland,   Wiley  Heights,   Rives,  Woodbridge,  Langdon,  Avalon 
Heights,  and  Winthrop  Heights  or  Montello.     The  last  is  well  inside 
the  district  and  brings  us  back  to  Mount  Olivet  Cemetery  burial  ground,  Mount 

lying  between  the  turnpike  and  the  railway  near  the  city  boundary,  Olivet. 

which  has  the  sad  distinction  of  containing  the  bodies  of  Mrs.  Surratt, 
one  of  the  conspirators  in  the  assassination  of  Lincoln,  and  of  Wirz,  the  cruel  keeper 
of  Andersonville  prison.     Electric  roads  now  reach  all  these  suburbs. 

The  National  Fair  Grounds,  opposite  Mount  Olivet  and  west  of  the  railroad,  con- 
tain the  Ivy  <  'ity  race  track.  The  suburban  "addition,"  Montello,  is  north  of  the  fair- 
grounds, and  south  of  them  is  Ivy  City,  with  Trinidad  east  of  the  railroad.  The 
southern  part  of  Ivy  City  is  occupied  by  the  extensive  grounds  of  the  Columbia 
Institution  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb,  popularly  known  as  Kendall  Green. 

This    institution,    which    is    reached    by  cars   on   II   Street    to  Seventh  Street, 
N.  E.,  was  incorporated  in  1857,  and  is  for  the  free  education  of  deaf-mute  children 
<»f  sailors  and  soldiers  of  the  United  States,  as  also  of  the  children  of  the  District 
s« »  afflicted.     It  was  indebted  in  its  early  years  to  the  benefactions  of 
the  Hon.  Amos  Kendall,  who  gave  land,  money,  and  buildings  toward  Kendall 

Its  establishment.    All  students  have  opportunity  to  learn  to  speak,  the  Green. 

system  of  instruction  including  both  manual  and  oral  methods.     Poor 
students  are  received  on  very  liberal  terms.     Visitors  are  admitted  on  Thursdays 
between  the  hours  of  9  and  3. 

9.  To  Benniiig  and  Chesapeake  Beach. 

Benning  and  Deanewood  are  suburban  villages  east  of  the  Anacostia  River,  and 
reached   by    the  Columbia  line  of  electric  cars,  out  G  Street  and 
Benning  Road,  X.  E.    At  Benning  is  the  principal  race  track  of  the  Benning: 

District,  where  spring  and  fall  races  are  run  that  attract  everybody  Races. 

interested  in  such  things.     Benning  is  also  a  connecting  point  of 
the  Chesapeake  Beach  Railway,  a  line  of  steam  railroad  some  thirty  miles  in  length, 
which    connects  the  capital  with  a  shore  resort  upon  Chesapeake      rhf<ianeflke 
Bay  called  Chesapeake  Beach.     These  trains  run  into  the  city  station  RV^Vh 

of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad  by  way  of  Hyattsville.     At  the 
beach  are  hotels,  amusement  places,  bathing  facilities,  and  much  that  is  naturally  as 
well  as  artificially  attractive. 


D1CT10NAKY 

FOR 

VISITORS  TO  THE  NATIONAL  CAPITAL. 

NAME  LOCATION  HOURS  INTERESTING  FEATURES 

Agriculture—         Mall,  bet.  12th  &  14th       9a.m.  to  4  p.m.      Museum;    palm    house;    experi- 
Department  of  streets.  mental  greenhouses  and  orna- 

mental gardens. 
Reached  by  Belt  Line  cars;  or  by  walking  from  Pennsylvania  Avenue  and  i3th  Street. 

Marshall  House;  Christ  Church; 

Alexandria  Six  miles  south  of  Alexandria  Lodge  Room:  Brad- 

the  Treasury.  dock  Headquarters  and  Camp- 

ing Grounds,  and  other  historic 
scenes  and  monuments. 

Reached  by  hourly  trains  on  the  Washington,  Alexandria  and  Mt.  Vernon  (Electric) 
Railway;  by  the  steamer  "Charles  Macalester,"  or  a  ferry-boat,  from  the  Seventh  street 
wharf;  or  by  steam  trains  of  the  Southern  Railway. 

American       Re- 
publics— 2  Jackson  place.  9  a.m.  to  2  p.m.       Offices. 
Bureau  of 

Aqued  uct    Crosses  the  Potomac 
Bridge  at  Georgetown. 

Sunrise  to  sunset.  Lee    Mansion ;    graves    of    over 

Arlington—                Heights,  west  of          including   Sun-  16,000 soldiers  and  sailors;  elab- 

National  Cem-               Potomac.                 days  and    holi-  orate  monuments ;   trophies  of 

etery                                                                    days.  Cuban  war. 

Reached  by  way  of  Georgetown,  Aqueduct  Bridge  and  electric  cars  to  Fort  Meyer  and 
the  Northern  Gate  ;  or  by  electric  cars  from  Pennsylvania  avenue  and  13^  street,  via 
Long  Bridge.  Public  carriages  make  frequent  trips  through  the  cemetery,  fare  25  cents. 

Army     Medical    S.  E.  corner  Smith-  Pathological    and    surgical    mu- 

Museum  sonian  Grounds,7th       9  a.m.  to  4  p.m.          seum  and  library, 

and  B  streets,  S.W. 

Reached  by  Seventh  street  cars. 

Arsenal—  Foot  of  4J4  street, 

Washington  S.  W.  All  day.  Artillery  drills ;  river  view. 

Barracks 

Botanical     Gar-      Pennsylvania  ave.,        8a.m.  to  5  p.m.       Greenhouses;  Bartholdi  fountain. 
den  1st  to  3d  streets. 

Reached  by  all  Pennsylvania  avenue  cars. 

Cabin    John         5J^  miles  up  the  Picturesque  out-door  resort. 

Bridge  Potomac, 

Reached  by  Metropolitan  electric  cars  from  Prospect  avenue  and  j6th  street,  Georgetown. 

9a.m.  to  4.30  p.m.    Rotunda  ;  Senate;  House  of  Retp 

Capitol  Capiiol  Hill.  or    until     Con-       restn-atives ;    Supreme  Court; 

gress  adjourns.       paintings  statuary  and  bronzes. 

Reac  .ed  on  the  south  and  west  sides  by  the  Pennsylvania  avenue  cars,  and  on  the  north 
and  east  sides  by  the  Metropolitan  F  street  lines.  A  fla?  flies  over  each  house  while  it  is 
in  session,  and  sessions  at  night  are  indicated  by  lights  upon  the  dome. 

Catholic  Univer-  Eckington  All  day.  Buildings  and  library. 

sity 

Reached  by  Eckington  line  of  electric  cars. 

192 


DICTIONARY  FOR  VISITORS  TO  THE  NATIONAL  CAPITAL.       193 


NAME 


LOCATION 


Census  Building     B  street,  1st  to  3d. 
Centre  Market 
Christ  Church 


Pennsylvania  avenue 
and  7th  street 


HOURS  INTERESTING  FEATURES 

No  admission        Offices. 


All  day.  Flower  stalls;   country   wagons, 

etc. 


G  street,  between  6th 
and  7th,  S.  E. 


City  Hall 


Sundays. 

Reached  by  Pennsylvania  avenue  cars  to  Navy  Yard. 
Judiciary  square.  9  a.m.  to  5  p.m.       District  offices. 


Oldest  church  in  the  city ;  Con- 
gressional cemetery. 


Civil     Service    E  ighth  and  E  streets.      9a.m.  to  2  p.m. 
Commission 


Offices 


Coast  and   Geo-    New   Jersey  avenue 
detic  Survey         and  B  street,  S.  W. 


9  a.m.  to  2  p.m.       Offices. 


Columbian  Uni- 
versity 


H  and  15  streets. 


C  o  n  g  r  e  s  sional    G  street  between  6th  All  day. 

Bury  ing  Ground  and  7th,  S.  E. 

Adjacent  to  Christ  Church  ;  reached  by  Navy  Yard  cars. 


Monuments  and  cenotaphs. 


Congressional  Library    {See  Library  of  Congress.) 


Painting ;  statuary ;  bronzes  and 
a  great  variety  of  objects  of  art. 


Corcoran       Gal-    New  York  avenue          See  below. 
lery  of  Art  and  17th  street. 

The  Gallery  is  open  every  day  (the  Fourth  of  July  and  Christmas  day  excepted)  from 
9.30  a.m.  to  4  p.m.  from  October  ist  to  May  ist  and  from  9  a  m.  to  4  p.m.  May  ist  to 
October  ist.  On  other  public  holidays  from  ip  a.m.  to  2  p.m.,  and  on  Sundays  except  in 
midsummer,  from  1.30  to  5  p  m.,  when  the  admission  is  free.  Mondays  (open  12  to  4  p.m.), 
Wednesdays  and  Fridays,  admittance  25  cents;  other  days  free.  Catalogues  for  sale. 
Reached  by  Pennsylvania  avenue  cars  to  xyth  street. 


Court  of  Claims      Pennsylvania    ave- 
nue and  17th  street. 


9  a.m.  to  2  p.m.       Offices. 


Dead    Letter    Second    Floor,    Gen- 
Offlce  eral  Post  Office. 


Museum  of  postal  curiosities  and 
philately. 


Edu  cation  — 
Commissioner 


8th  and  G.  streets.         9  a.m.  to  2  p.m.       Pedagogical  library. 


Engraving     and    Mall,    14th   and   B    9  lo  11.45a.m.  and    Machinery  and  processes  used  in 
Prioting—  streets,  S.  W.  13.30  to  2.30  p.m.         printing  banknotes,  bonds  and 

Bureau  of  postage  stamps. 

Reached  by  Belt  Line  cars.     Visitors  allowed  only  in  parties  conducted  by  an  attendant. 


Ethnology — 

Bureau  of 


1333  F  street. 


9  a.m.  to  2  p.m.       Offices  and  library. 


Executive  Mansion    (See  White  House) 


Fish       Coi 
sion 


is-    Armory  Building,  6th       9a.m.  to  5  p.m.       Aquaria  and  fish-cultural   nnaa- 
and  B  streets,  S.  W.  ratus. 


Ford's  Theatre 
Fort  Meyer 


10th    street  between 
E  and  F. 


Not  open. 


Building  in  which  Lincoln  was 
assassinated. 


Arlington  hills,  west 
of  the  Potomac. 


Geological    Sur- 
vey 

George  to  wn  Col- 
lege 


All  day.  Cavalry  drills. 

Reached  by  electric  cars  and  stages  from  west  end  of  Aqueduct  bridge. 

1330  F.  street,  9  a.m.  to  2  p.m.       Offices  and  library. 


Georgetown. 


All  day. 


Library  and  laboratories. 


194 


PICTORIAL   GUIDE  TO   WASHINGTON 


Reproductions  of  Ancient  civili- 
zations. 


NAME  LOCATION  HOURS  INTERESTING  FEATURES 

Halls  of  the  An-    1312  to  1318  New  York      9  a  m.  to  10  p.m. 
cients  avenue. 

An  admission  fee  of  50  cents  is  charged  ;  25  cents  to  parties  of  ten  or  more. 

Howard  Univer-    University    hill    be- 
sity  tween  %  and  6th 

streets. 


Indian  Affairs— 
-    Bureau  of 


All  day.  Educational  methods. 

Reached  by  Seventh  street  cars  transferring  to  Brightwood  line. 
7th,  E  and  F  street.       9  a.m.  to  2  p.m.       Offices. 


Interior—  "Patent    Office,"  7th 
Department  of       and  F  street. 

Justice—  K     street,     opposite 

Department  of  McPherson  square. 

Labor—  New    York     avenue 
Department  of         and  15th  street. 

Library  of  Con- 


9  a.m.  to  2p.m. 

9  a.m.  to  2  p.m.       Offices. 

9  a.m.  to  2  p.m.       Offices. 


Patent   office,    museum  and  lib- 
rary. 


gress 


East  of  the  Capitol.         9  a.m.  to  10  p.m. 


Architecture  and  ornamentation; 
mural  paintings;  sculptures; 
mosaics;  curiosities  of  early 
printing  and  illustration ;  read- 
ing-rooms. 


ing-rooms 

Reached  by  Pennsylvania  avenue  and  F  street  lines  of  cars.    The  building  is  brilliantly  illu- 
minated in  the  evening,  which  is  a  favorable  time  in  which  to  see  the  interior  decorations. 


Library,  Free    1326  New  York  ave- 
Public  nue. 


Lincoln  Museum 


516  10th  street. 


Marine    Bar-    8th  street,  between  G 
racks  and  I,  S.  E. 


Mount  Vernon 


Sixteen   miles  down 
the  Potomac. 


9  a.m.  to  9  p.m.  Books  for  general  circulation. 

All  day.  Relics  related  to  Lincoln. 

All  day.  Drilling  of  Marine  Corps. 

11  a.m.  to  4  p.m.  Home  and  Tomb  of  Washington. 


Reached  by  hourly  trains  of  the  Washington,  Alexandria  and  Mt.  Vernon  Electric  Rail- 
way from  I-&&  street  and  Pennsylvania  avenue  and  morning  and  afternoon  by  steamer 
li  Charles  Macalester  from  Seventh  street  wharf ;  by  either  line  round  trip,  50  cents  ; 
admission  to  grounds,  25  cents. 

National  Mu-    Mall,    opposite    10th    9 a.m.  to  4:30  p.m.    Zoological,  ethnological  and  in- 
seum  street. 


Navy  -  State,  War  and  Navy      9  a.m.  to  2  p.m. 

Department  of  Building. 


dustrial  collections. 
Models  of  war  ships ;  trophies. 


Navy  Yard 


Foot   of    8th    street, 
S.  E. 


Oak  Hill  Ceme-    Rock  Creek,  near  P. 


tery 


Observatory, 
Naval 


Patent  Office 
Pension  Office 


All  day.  Manufacture   of   naval   cannon ; 

trophies ;  museum  of  relics. 

All  day.  Monuments  of  notable  men. 


street 
Reached  by  Metropolitan  (F  street)  cars  to  Georgetown. 


7  to  9  Thursday    Astronomical  apparatus  and  ob- 

North  of  Georgetown       evenings    only.       servations    through    the     tele- 
Cards  of  admis-       scope, 
sion  required. 
Reached  by  F  street  and  Rockville  electric  lines  from  Georgetown. 

7th    and    F    streets,      9  a.m.  to  2  p.m.      Museum  of  models. 

Judiciary  square.          9  a.m.  to  2  p.m.       Central  hall  and  columns. 

Reached  by  F  street  and  G  street  lines  of  cars. 


Post  Office,  Gen-    Pennsylvania    a  v  e  -    Offices  open  9  a.m. 
eral  and  City         nue,  llth  and  12th        to  2 p.m.  See  "Dead  Letter  Office." 

streets, 

Money-order  division  open  from  9  a.m.  to  5  p.m.  Registry  division  open  from  8.30  a.m. 
to  6  p  m.  for  delivery  of  registered  matter.  For  the  receipt  of  matter  for  registration  the 
division  is  always  open.  General-delivery  window  never  closed.  Stamps  can  be  pur- 
chased at  any  time  day  or  night.  Money-order  and  registered-letter  business  transacted 
at  all  of  the  branch  post-offices  in  the  city.  Reached  by  Pennsylvania  avenue,  Ninth 
street  and  Eleventh  street  lines  of  cars. 


DICTIONARY   FOR   VISITORS   TO   THE  NATIONAL   CAPITAL.       195 


NAME  LOCATION  HOURS  INTERESTING  FEATURES 

Printing    Office,    North  Capitol  and  H    Visitors  in  partiesconducted  Machinery  and  meth- 

Government                     streets.                   through    the   building    at  ods  of  printing  and 

10  a.m.  and  2  p.m.  book  making. 
Reached  by  H  street  cars  from  Fifteenth  and  G  street. 

Bock   Creek    Rock  Creek  Road, 

Church  northeast  of  Sol-  All  day.  Fine  monuments  in  cemetery, 

dier's  Home. 

Reached  by  Seventh  street  and  Brightwood  lines  of  cars. 

Smithsonian  In-    Mall,    opposite    10th    9  a.m.  to  4.30  p.m.    Museum  of   birds,   marine   ani- 

stitution  street.  mals,  and  American  archaelogy. 

Reached  by  Seventh  street  line  of  cars. 

St.  John's  Epis-       H  and  16th  street.  Sundays. 

copal  Church 

Soldier's  Home      Near   7th   street  ex-    All  day  including    Fine  grounds,  with   wide    view; 

tended.  holidays.  monuments  and  relics. 

Reached  by  Seventh  street  and  Brightwood  cars. 

State—  State,  War  and  Navy      9  a  m.  to  2  p.m.      Library  and  historical  relics. 

Department  of  Building. 

Treasury,     The    Pennsylvania    ave-      9a.m.  to  2 p.m.      Making, distribution, and  care  of 
U.  S,  nue  and  15th  street.  government  treasure. 

Visitors  are  shown  through  the  building  from  10  to  12  a.m.,  in  parties  of  twelve  by  attend- 
ants who  explain  everything  shown  ;  all  visitors  assemble  at  the  door  of  the  Treasurer's 
office,  in  the  northeast  corner  of  the  main  floor  and  register  their  names. 

War—  State,  War  and  Navy      9  a.m.  to  2  p.m.       Captured    cannon    and    other 

Department  of  Building.  trophies. 

Washington    Mall,    west    of    14th    9.30  a.m.  to  4.30  p.m.    View  from  summit. 
Monument  street. 

Reached  by  Belt  Line  cars  from  the  Capitol,  or  by  transfer  (2  cents  extra),  from  Penn- 
sylvania avenue  cars.  The  elevator  runs  (free)  to  the  top  of  the  monument  every  half 
hour  from  9. 30  a.m.  to  4.30  p.m.;  but  no  one  will  be  taken  up  in  the  last  trip  (4.30),  if  30 
persons  (the  capacity  of  the  elevator),  are  already  there. 

WeatherBureau    24th  and    M   streets,       9a.m.  to  2  p.m.       Offices. 

East  Room  open 
White  House  Executive  Grounds.        daily,  10  a.m.  to    Home  of  the  Presidents. 

2p.m. 

No  general  public  receptions  are  held  by  the  President,  except  on  New  Year's  day,  but 
visitors  having  business  with  the  President  will  be  admitted  from  12  to  i  o'clock  daily, 
excepting  on  Cabinet  days,  so  far  as  public  business  will  permit. 

Toun  g  Men's 
Christian     As-       1732  G  street. 
sociation 

Zoological  Park,   Adam's    Mill   Road,  All  day.  Living  animals. 

National  N.  W. 

Reached  by  Seventh  or  Fourteenth  street  cars  and  transfer  to  U  street  line,  thence  to 
Chevy  Chase  cars,  or  by  Chevy  Chase  cars  direct  from  the  Treasury. 


AVashtnKton  /       // 
Monumeat;\        /< 


••••'•iL±±2t£ttr-i. 


JJUDU 

rhSi— i!r— 1£— in — i  i* 1 


JO 


!r« 


LIST    OP  PRINCIPAL  HOTELS. 

\i.ii\NvAxNKx  —  Seventeenth  and  H  rtreete  —  European  plan,  .  .  .  $2  00 
AKMMOISK.  THK  —Thirteenth  Street,  between  Pennsylvania  Avenue  and  F  Street 

—  American  plan,    ...  .  .250 

AjiLDfOTON  —  Lafayette  Square  —  American  plan,     .  .500 

I'AIKO  —  Q  Street,  between  Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth  streets  —  American  plan,  3  50 
C(x  IIKAN  —  Fourteenth  and  K  streets  —  American  plan,  .....  300 
COLONIAL—  Fifteenth  and  H  streets—  American  plan,  .  .250 

FtESSrONAL       New  .Fer-ey  Aveinie  and  P>  Street  —  American  plan,        .  2  50 

N  —  Coiinectieiit  Aveiuieand  I  )e  Sales  Street  —  American  plan,       .          .        3  00 


I)K\VI:Y  —  L  Street,  between  Thirteenth  ami  Fourteenth  streets  —American  plan.       3  50 
KI'.IHTT  —  F  and  Fourteenth  streets  —  American  plan  ......       350 

FREDONI  A  —  H  and  Twelfth  streets  —  American  plan  ......      200 

GORDON  —  Sixteenth  and  I  streets—  American  and  Kuropean  phin.      .          .  Special 

HAMILTON—  Fourteenth  and  K  -treets       American  plan.  .          .          .          .250 

.IOIIN-MN       I',  mixylvMiiia  Avenue  MIX!  Thirteenth  Street  —  Knropean  plan.  .        1  00 

L\  FKTKA'S       Eleventh  and  <;  -tivets  —  American  plan,      .  2  00 

METROPOLITAN  —  Pennsylvania   Avenue,   between   Sixth    and  Seventh  streets  — 

American  plan.         .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          ,  "    8  SO 

N  \TIOV\I.       Pennsylvania  Avenue,  between  Fifth  and  Sixth  streets  —  American 

plan.  .  ...        '.3  50 

NOKMAMMK    •  Mcl'her>nn  Square     -American  plan.  .       400 

OXKOKD—  New  York  Avenue  and  Fourteenth  Street  —American  plan.       .  2  50 

K\,I.K;H  —  Pennsylvania  Avenue  and  Twelfth  Street  --  Kun.pean  plan,       .          .        2  5n 
REGENT—  Pennsylvania  Avenue  and  Fifteenth  street  —  American  plan,    .  3  00 

RICHMOND  —  Seventeenth  and  II  streets  —  American  plan.  .  .400 

Kn;«;s—  Fifteenth  and  <;  streets  —  American  plan.     .  .  .300 

ST.  JAMES  —  Pennsylvania  Avenue  and  Sixth  Street  —  European  plan,       .         .100- 
9r.  Lome  —  Fourteenth  and  H  streets  —  American  plan,    .  .300 

SIIOHKHAM  —  Kit'teenth  and  I  streets—  American  and  European  plan,         .  5  00 

V'AKMM       NY\\  -.Jersey  A  venue  and  C  Street,  S.  E.—  American  plan,         .          .        200 
VKNDOMK  —  Pennsylvania  Avenue  and  Third  Street  —  American  plan,  .        2  ."in 

\VII.I.AKDS  —  Pennsylvania  Avenue  and  Fourteenth  Street—  American  plan,       .        3  00 


14 

201 


INDEX. 


Heavy  figures  indicate  illustrations. 


PA( 

JE 

Adams,  Death  of  
Agriculture,  Department  of  
Agricultural  Museum  

26 

120 

121 

Alexandria  

159 

American  Republics,  Bureau  of  

112 

Anacostia  

88 

River  

162 

Suburbs  

83 

Arlington  

172 

Arlington. 
Arlington  House  

173 

Beauty  of  the  Estate  
Bivouac  of  the  Dead  .-. 

172 

173 

Custis  Family  

174 

Graves  of  Officers  

174 

Lees,  The  

1V8 

Mansion,  The  

174 

Public  Carriages  

173 

Routes  -  -  

173 

Sheridan  Gate,  The  

178 

Sheridan,  Tomb  of  Gen.  Philip  H... 
Site  and  View  

174 

174 

177 

Soldiers  and  Sailors  of  the  Cuban 

War  

r/4 

Soldiers1  Graves  

173 

Temple  of  Fame  

1V4 

176 

Tomb  of  the  Unknown  Dead  

174 

177 

Army  and  Navy  Club  
Medical  Museum  

137 
125 

Statues....  

125 

Art  Galleries  

129 

T>  altimore  &  Ohio  Station  
-D    Bancroft  House  --- 

11 
149 

Bartholdi  Fountain,  The  

88 

Battle  Cemetery  

181 

Baudin  

80 

Benning  Races  
Bicycles  

191 

12 

Bierstadt,  Albert  

28 

Bladensburg  

Battlefield  

191 
191 

Blaine  House  -•  

154 

Boarding-houses  -  

13 

Botanical  Garden  -  

86 

84 

British  Legation,  The  
Brumidi.  Constantino  

155 
22 

156 

Bulwer  House,  The  

148 

Bureaus,  etc.  : 

American  Republics  
Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey  
Engraving  and  Printing  
Ethnology  -  
Geological  Survey  -  

112 
80 

198 
112 

119 

Indian  

112 

Land  Office  

112 

Patent  Office  -  

110 

111 

Pension  

110 

111 

Printing  Office..  

119 

Weather  

121 

riabin  John  Bridge  

\J    Catholic  University  of  America  .... 

184 

190 

Capitol,  The. 
Apotheosis  of  Washington,  The,... 
Beginning  of  the  
Brumidi's  Canopy  

16 
24 

24 

Central  Portico  

19 

Cost  -  

18 

PAGE 

Capitol.  The  Ccontinued) 

Crawford's  Group 18 

Crypt ._ .    31 


Discovery  of  the  Mississippi 21 

Dome,  The 24 

Early  Expectations 79 

East  Front 

Floor  Plan  of  the  Principal  Story  of 

the 

Franzoni's   Clock 25 

From  the  Capitol  Grounds 

Grounds  .., 15 

House  of  Representatives _  28 

Bronze  Stairways 29 

Eastern  Grand  Stairway...        .  30 

Hull  of  the 28 

House  Basement 31 

House  Galleries v8,  30 

Mace 28 

Paintings 28 

Portraits 30 

Sub-basement 31 

Western  Grand  Staircase 29 

Landing  of  Columbus  at  San  Salva- 
dor, The 

Plans  and  Architects 16 

Representatives,  Original  Hall  of . . .  25 

"Rescue.  The,"  GreenouglTs 

Rogers  Bronze  Door 19 

Rotunda 20 

Rotunda  Doors 21 

Rotunda  Frieze 22 

Rotunda  Statues 24 

Rotunda  Wall  Paiutings 21 

Senate,  Basement 32 

Busts ----  37 

Chamber -  32 

Chasm  of  the  Colorado,  The 

Crawford  Bronze  Doors 

Eastern  Staircase 34 

Electoral  Commission,  The 

First  Fight  of  the  Ironclads ,  The  37 

Frescoes  in  Committee  Rooms. .  32 

Galleries 33,36 

Grand  Canyon  of  the  Yellow- 
stone, The - 

Marble  Room 35 

Paintings  and  Portraits 37 

Perry  at  the  Battle  of  Lake  Erie  34 

President's  Room 35 

Reception  Room 35 

Vice-Presidents,  Busts  of 33 

Vice- President's  Room 35 

Weather  Service 35 

Western  Staircase 36 

Signing  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence  --  22 

State  Statues.... 27 

Statuary  Hall ---  26 

Statuary  Hall,  Acoustic  Curiosities .  27 
Statuary  Hall,  Old  Hall  of  Repre- 
sentatives  

Style  and  Dimensions 

Supreme  Court,  Busts  of  Judges 3 

Chamber 37 

Robing-room   38 

Undercroft ---  32 

View  Looking  West  from  the 

Washington,  Greenough's  Statue  of.  16 

Western  Front 39 


23 


8,  9 
17 
15 


21 


19 
20 


33 


37 
36 


36 


35 


26 


38 


84 


202 


INDEX. 


203 


Capitol,  The  (continued). 

West  Front  at  Night,  Illuminated 
with  Search-lights. 

Westward  the  "Course  of  Empire 

Takes  Its  Way 

Cemeteries  : 

Arlington  National 

Battle   - 

Congressional - 

Mt.  Olivet... -- 

Oak  Hill.... 

Rock  Creek 

Roman  Catholic 

Soldiers1  Home 

Census  Bureau 

( 'enter  Market  .  _ 

Chain  Bridge 

Chapman,  John  Gadsby 

Chesapeake  Beach 

Chevy  Chase _ 

Chinese  Legation,  New. 

Christ  Church 81, 

Church  of  the  Covenant 

Churches. 

City  Hall  

Post  Office 


Civil  Service  Coin  mission  

Clubs   1.-J7, 

Coast  and  (ieodetic  Suney 

Columbia  Athletic  Club 

Columbian  University 

Commissioners  of  Education 

Commissions  : 

Civil    Service 

Fish 

Conduit  Koad 

( '01 1 L'iv>sional  ( 'emetery 

Connecticut  Avenue 

Convention  Hall       

Corcoran  Art  Gallery  

Corcoran  Gallery  of  Arts,  The 

Bronzes  and   Keplicas 

Charlotte  Corday  in  Prison 

Description  of  Building 

Last  Days  of  Napoleon  I 

Marbles 

Paintings 

Portraits. 

Statuary  Hall 

Tayloe  Collection 

W."  W.  Corcoran 

Cosmos  Club 

Country   Koads 

Court  of  Claims 

Crawford,  Thomas 


T\ead  Letter  Office 

Museum  of 

Decatur  House,  The 

Departments: 

Agriculture 

Interior 

.lust ice  

Labor 

List  of  ... 

Navy """" 

Post  Office "    for, 

State 

Treasury  . . 
War 

Dictionary  for  Visitors 

Diplomatic  Corps,  The 

Room,  Department  of  State. 

Distributing  Reservoir 

District  and  Municipal  Affairs 

Of  Columbia,  Origin  of... 

Institutions 

Dtiddington  Manor 

Dupont  Circle 

Statue  of  Admiral  Samuel  F... 


29 

172 
181 

81 
191 
187 
1S2 
184 
182 
110 

87 
189 

83 
191 
186 


13T, 
135 

14 
108 
190 
112 
149 

80 
137 
148 
112 

112 
126 
190 
81 
118 
136 


131 
129 

181 
ISO 

131 

131 

le-.t 

148 
181 
107 

18 


107 
108 
146 

120 
108 
107 
112 

99 
102 
106 

99 
102 
100 
192 
142 

181 

14 

13 

81 

79 

156 

156 


79 
31 


151 
161 
136 


129 
130 
131 

128 


101 
109 
101 
103 
101 


113 


PAGE 

Early'sRaid. ..  181 
Eckington 184 

Edgewood i 84 

Education,  Office  of  the  Commissioner  of  1 12 

Emancipation  Monument 81 

Engraving  and  Printing,  Bureau  of . . .  119 

Etiquette,  Official 139 

Everett  House,  The ..  149 

Ewell  House 146 

Excursions  About  Washington 159 

Executive  Avenue 152 

Departments 99 

Mansion 91 

Proposed 98 


Trails  Church 179 

-     Farragut,  Statue  of  Admiral  David  G. 

Farragut  Square 155 

Fish  commission,  The  United  States...  126 

Force,  Peter 45 

Ford's  Theater 88 

Foreign  Office 100 

Fort  Foote 160 

Lyon 160 

Monroe,  Steamboat  to 11 

Meyer 178 

Totten.-. 188 

Sheridan 163 

Stevens 181 

Washington 163 

Fourteenth  Street 147 

Franklin  Square 147 

Statue  of  Benjamin 88 

Franzoni's  Clock,  Capitol 25 

Free  Public  Library 112 

French  Embassy 149 

Garfleld,  Shooting  of  President 14 
Statue  of  Pres.  James  A 86 

Geological  Survey 112 

Georgetown 186 

Christ  Church 160 

Interior 

College  187 

History  of 186 

Key  House 186 

Union  Station 186 

GhiL'ko  Trees 147 

Glen  Echo 190 

Glen  Echo  Heights  189 

Giesboro  Point 162 

Government,  District 14 

Hospital  for  Insane 162 

Printing  Office 112 

Grant  Gift  House 157 

Grant's  (General)  Headquarters 102 

Great  Falls  of  the  Potomac 190 

Greene,  Statue  of  Major-General  Natha- 

nael 80 

Greenough,  Horatio 16 

Gridiron  Club 137 

Gross  Monument. 125 

TTacks  and  Cabs...  .     12 

AJ-    Halls  of  the  Ancients 132 

Halsall,  Wm.  F 37 

Hancock,  Statue  of  General 87 

Healy,  George  P.  A 96 

Historic  Houses: 

Bancroft  House 149 

Bulwer  House 148 

Decatur  House 146 

Duddington  Manor 79 

Everett  House 149 

Ewell  House 146 

Madison  House 145 

Octagon  House 118 

Seward  House 145 

Stockton  House 149 

Sumner  House 146 

Tayloe  House 145 

Van  Ness  Mansion 118 

Wirt  House...  ..  150 


155 


87 


161 
16O 


134 


204 


INDEX. 


144 


PAGE 

History,  Early 14 

Hospital  Square .    81 

Hotels 12 

Early 87 

List  of  Principal 201 

Houdon,  Jean  Antoine x.'<i 

Howard  University 180 

H  Street 148 

Hunting  Creek 162 

Inaugural  Balls 110 
Indian  Office 112 

Interior,  Department  of  the 108 

Iowa  Circle 157 

I  Street 150 

Ivy  City  Race  Track 191 

Jackson,  Statue  of  President  Andrew. .  144      145 
'     Justice,  Department  of 107 

Kendall  Green...                                ..  191 
K  Street 152 

T  abor,  Department  of 112 

-L*    Lafayette  Memorial  Statue.. 

Lafayette  Square 143 

Opera  House,  Site  of  ..  144 

Land  Office,  General 112 

Latrobe,  Benj.  H 18 

Leutze,  Emanuel 29 

Library,  Free  Public.. 112 

Library  of  Congress 45  40,41 

Administration 74 

Aglaia 67 

Alexander  Paintings 57 

"  America  and  Africa  " 52         53 

Ancient  Games 62 

Architecture  and  Style 46 

"  Arts  and  Sciences,     Cox's 68 

Autographs  and  MSS.,  Historic 65 

Barse  Paintings 70 

Benson  Paintings 66 

Book  Illustration 69 

Bronze  Door  "Tradition " 51         45 

Care  of  Books 75 

Ceiling 52 

Comus 54         70 

Copyright  Office 75 

Corinthian  Arcades 60 

Corridors 61 

Decorations 46 

Dodge  W.  deL.  Paintings 64 

Dome  and  Galleries 72 

Dome  Frescoes  Blashfield's 74 

"Human  Understand- 
ing"   74 

Significance 74 

Early  Books 64 

"Elements" 69 

"Endymion" •.  54         71 

Entrance 46 

"  Europe  and  Asia  " 52         53 

Evolution  of  the  Book,  The 57 

Family,  The 59         61 

"  Fates,"  Mackay's 70 

First  Floor  Halls 52 

Floor  Plans,  First  Story 42 

Second  Story 43 

From  the  Capitol. 40,  41 

Good  Administration 59         58 

Government 58         59 

Graces,  The 67 

Grand  Staircase.. 5O 

House  Reading-room 76 

Inscript  ions 65 

Librarian's  Office 59 

Lyric  Poetry 52         54 

McEwen  Paintings  54 

Main  Entrance  Hall 51,70 

Main  Entrance  Hall  (Second  Floor). 

Mantel  in  House  Reading-room 56         55 

Senate 57         56 

Map-room 60 

Martiny  Sculptures 52 


PAGE 

Library  of  Congress  (continued). 

Maynard  Paintings 69 

•'Minerva" _  71         44 

Modern  Games 67 

"  Muses,"  Simmons' .  60 

North  Corridor.  Second  Story,  j\l;iin 

Entrance  Hall 78 

Northeast  Pavilion.  65 

Northwest  Pavilion 64 

Origin  of 45 

Pearce  Paintings 59 

Periodical  Reading-room 57 

Perry  Fountain 50 

Perry's  Sibyls .62,67 

Philosophy 72         73 

Plaques (;<» 

Pompeiian  Dancing  Girls,  Dodge's,  60 

Pompeiian  Panels 61         62 

"Courage". 61         62 

"  Fortitude  " 61          62 

"Justice" 61          62 

"Patriotism" 61         62 

Portico ..- 50 

Printers'  Marks ...  61 

Racial  Heads 50 

Reading-room 75 

Reid  Paintings 62 

Representatives'  Reading-room 55 

Restaurant 75 

Rotunda  Entrance 58 

Of  Public  Reading-room  ..  47 

Statues 73 

The 72 

Sciences,  The 68 

"  Seals,"  Van  Ingen's 65 

"Seasons,"  Pratt's 64 

Second  Story  Rooms  and  Corridors.  60 

Senators'  Reading-room 57 

ShirJaw  Paintings 66 

Southeast  Pavilion 69 

Southwest  Pavilion 69 

Treasures 64 

Trophies 62 

Van  Ingen's  Paintings 71 

Vedder  Mosaic,  The 71 

Paintings 58 

Vestibule. 51 

Vista,A 77 

Walker  Paintings...  .  5470,71 

War. 63         64 

"War  and  Peace,"  Melcher's 63 

Lincoln  Relics 89 

Lincoln  Square.. 81 

Little  Falls  of  the  Potomac 189 

Logan,  Statue  of  Gen.  John  A 157 

Long  Bridge 159 

Louise  Home 153 

Luther,  Martin 147 


McClellan Gate,  The.... 
McPherson  Square 150 

McPherson  Statue. 150 

Madison  House 145 

Mall,  The 

Maltby  Building 80 

Marine  Corps 82 

Marshall  Hall 159 

Marshall,  Statue  of  Chief  Justice  John- 
Massachusetts  Avenue 153 

Meridian  Hill 156 

Memory — 

Metropolitan  Club... 149 

Metropolitan  Hotel 87 

Mexican  Embassy - 

Moran,  Thomas." 36 

Mount  Olivet  Cemetery 

Mount  Vernon -  163 

Electric  Railway  Route  to 159 

Estate,  The.... -  163 

Gardens 167 

Mansion,  The « 

Attic 172 

Banquet  Hall,  The 

Bedrooms...     172 


179 


127 


39 


183 


150 


165 
170 


INDEX. 


205 


PAGE 


Mount  Vernon-The  Mansion  (continued). 

Central  Hall 

Death  Chamber 171 

Dining-room 169 

Interior 168 

Library 170 

Martha's  Room 171 

Music-room. 

Outbuildings  16< 

Room  in  which  General  Wash- 
ington died.. 170 

Room  in  which  Martha  Wash- 
ington died 

Sitting-room 169 

Western  Front 167 

West  Parlor 169 

River  Route  to -- 1« 

Washington,  Old  Tomb  of 

Washington,  Tomb  of 164 

XTational  Fair  Grounds 191 

JN     National  Hotel.... 87 

National  Military  Cemetery 182 

National  Museum.  The 

Costumes 

Lectures ---     -  I24 

Old  Building 125 

Personal  Reucs 124 

Pottery.. 1*5 

Rotunda 124 

Naval  Hospital 83 

Monument 

Observatory 

Navy  Department  and  Museum 82,  102 

Yard 

Museum 

Ordnance   Factories 82 

Trophies 82 

New  Hampshire  A  venue 157 

Norfolk.  Steamboat  to 11 

Numbering  Currency  Notes 

r\t\k  Hill  Cemetery 187 

V    Oak  Hill... 187 

Octagon  House,  The 118 

Official  Etiquette  at  the  Capital 189 

Cabinet  Precedence 141 

Cabinet  Receptions 141 

Calling  Daya     142 

card  Reception 

Dinner  Formalities 140 

Diplomatic  Corps,  Social  Rules  in..  142 

Formalities  at  the  White  House  ...  139 

Local  Society  Features l-'i'.t 

official  Season 139 

President's  Hours 141 

Public  Reception* 140 

1,'eeeption    Ceremony.. 140 

Rules  for  Dress 141 

Vice-President 141 

old  Capitol  Prison 80 

ordnance  Factories 82 

"Palmer,  Erastus  Dow 27 

Jt      patentOffice 110 

Payne,  John  Howard       187 

PeaJe,  Charles  Wilson. 36 

Pennsylvania  Avenue 

Railroad  Station   11 

Pension  Office.. 110 

Population 14 

Post  Office,  General 107.  108 

New _ 107 

Potomac  River  Excursions 161 

Powell,  Win.  H .    81 

Powers,  Hiram 30 

Pratt.  Bela  L. 7^78 

President's  Grounds 93 

Public  Carriages l-j 

Public  Printer 112 

Railroads  and  Stations..     11 
Rawlins,  Statue  of  General 87 

Redemption  Office 105 


168 


171 
171 


164 
166 


123 


86 
188 
101 

83 


1J1 
184 


85 
111 


109 


"Red  Top," 

Residences,  Prominent 

Elaine  House 

Depew,  Chauncey  M 

Dewey,  Admiral 

Foraker,  Senator  J.  B 

Grant,  Mrs.  U.  S 

Hale,  Senator  Eugene 

Leiter,  L.  Z.,Esq 

Restaurants 

Rhode  Island  Avenue 

Rock  Creek  Church 

Cemetery 

"  Grief"—  by  St.  Gaudens 

Memorial  Statues 

"  Memory  "—  by  Partridge 
"Payne/1  John  Howard, 


149 
154 


12 
157 
182 
182 

183 


Rogers,  Randolph 


Monument 


187 
19 


Scheffer,Ary 28 
Scott  Circle 153 

Scott,  Statue  of  General 154 

Seventh  Street 87 

Seward  House,  The 145 

Shops ---    IS 

Sixteenth  Street 152 

Smithsonian  Institution 121 

Bureaus 123 

Plan  and  Scope 122 

Social  Formalities  at  Official  Houses 142 

Soldiers'  Home - 

History  of 182 

St.  John's  Episcopal  Church 

Stanton  Square 80 

State,  Department  of 99 

State  Library  and  Relics 100 

Statues : 

Daguerre 126 

Dupont,  Adm.  Samuel  P. 156 

Emancipation  Monument 81 

Farragnt,  Adm.  David  G. 

Franklin,  Benjamin 88 

Garfleld,  President  James  A.. 

Greene,  Maj.-Geu.  Nathaniel 80 

Gross,  Dr.  S.  D 125 

Hancock,  Gen.  Winfleld  S 87 

Henry,  Prof .  Joseph 121 

In  the  Capitol 27 

Jackson,  President  Andrew 144 

Lafayette  Memorial 

Lincoln,  A 14,26,81 

Logan,  John  A 157 

Luther 147 

Marshall,  Chief  Justice  John 

McPherson.  Major-Gen.  Jas.  B 150 

Scott  <ien.  Winfleld 154 

Rawlins,  Major-Gen.  John  A 87 

Thomas,  Gen.  George  H 

Washington,  George 16,  26 

Steamboat  Landing 11 

Steamboats 11 

Stockton  House 149 

Stone,  Horatio 24 

Storied  Houses --  151 

Street  Cars 11 

Streets,  Arrangement  of 13 

Stuart,  Gilbert  Charles 30 

Suburban  Lines 12 

Suburban  Towns 184 

Sumner  House,  The 146 


rpayloe  House 145 

J-     Tennally  town 189 

Theaters 136 

ThomasCircle 147 

Thomas,  Statue  of  Gen.  Geo.  H 147 

Toner,  J.  M 45 

Treasury,  The 102       103 

Branches  of 107 

Cash  Room 105 

Currency  Destruction  Committee...  106 

Cutting  the  Sheets. 104 

Department 102       103 


149 
158 
158 
154 
152 
157 


183 
183 


184 


153 
182 


122 

180 
135 
101 


155 
87 


145 
144 


39 

,  153 
)  182 

147 
11 


206 


INDEX. 


Treasury,  The  (continued). 

Expert  Counting 105 

Maceration ..  106 

Paper  for  Securities 104 

Redemption  Office 105 

Treasury  Notes 104 

Tunlaw  Heights 189 

Universities. 
American 188 

Catholic 184 

Columbian 148 

Howard...  ..  180 


TTanderlyn,  John 21 

V     Van  Ness  Mansion,  The 118 

Venus  of  Melos... 


132 


/,  The 131 

Talker,  James ...    36 

War  Department .100       101 

Washington  Barracks 162 

Washington 

Bird's-eye  View,  looking 
east  from  Washington 

Monument 114 

Bird's-eye  View,  looking 
north  from  Washington 
Monument...  138 

Circle ...  157 

Defenses  of...  ..  179 

Old  Tomb  of 166       164 

Statues  of  George   16,  26         11 

Tomb  of 164       166 

Washington's     Mansion      at      Mount 

Vernon 166       165 

Washington  Monument. *..  115       117 

Dimensions 115 

Grandeur 115 

History.. ...-  115 


PAQK 

Washington  Monument  (continued). 

Interior 116 

Northwestern  Outlook 118 

Scene  Toward  the  Capitol 118 

View  Down  the  Potomac 118 

From  Arlington  175 

From  the  Top ...  116 

UD  the  Potomac 118 

Water  Works,  of  the  City 190 

Weather  Bureau 121 

Forecasting. . .  121 
Weir,  Robert  W.  . 

Wesley  Heights 188 

White  House,  or  Executive  Mansion  ...  91 

New 1)8 

White  House 91 

Blue  Room 94         95 

Cabinet  Room 98 

Doorkeepers 93 

East  Room 94         95 

Egg-rolling... 93 

Green  Room 94 

History 91 

In  Line  on  a  Reception  Day 93 

Lafayette  Square,  from           ...  91 

North  Front 92 

President's  Grounds 93 

Office 97 

Red  Room 96 

South  Front ...  9O 

State  Dining-room 97 

Washington,  Portrait  of 94 

Whitney,  Anne 27 

Winder  Building 102 

Willard  s  Hotel 89 

Wirt  House,  The 150 

Woodley  Heights.... 188 


[.  C.  A. 


137 


Zoological  Park. 185 
Animals...                                      ..  185 


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